A Sinister Plan
by Man of Faith
Summary: An evil plot has been set in motion and our favorite heiress may not survive. It's life or death and the clock is ticking. Will the group find her before it's lights out?
1. The Idea

**AN: ****After the success of the past few holiday collections, we have decided to try an adventure collaboration story. Unlike the other collections, this isn't a series of one shots, but an multi chapter story that will showcase the expertise of the various authors. So far Tiger002, Woundedhearts, WynterSno, Man of Faith and Snapplelinz have joined this collection, but we always welcome new writers.**

**Tiger002**

**Chapter 1: The idea.**

The twins stood on the sky deck, looking over the horizon as the sun started to set. The great sky scrapers of their city slowly crept over the mighty ocean waves. "I can't believe we're finally back in Boston," Zack said as their old home appeared over the horizon.

"I know what you mean, I really miss Mom."

"You dork, didn't you just talk to her last week?"

"Yeah, but it's nothing like seeing her in person. I'm sure you miss her too," Cody said turning to his brother.

"A little I guess," Zack said shrugging his shoulders.

"Just a little?" he said asking his brother knowingly.

"Okay, maybe I do miss her a lot, but soon we'll be back in Boston, with family and old friends."

"Yeah, I can't wait for mom to finally meet Bailey."

At this, a brilliant idea hit Zack. He couldn't believe he didn't think of this sooner. There wouldn't be another chance like this, where both his friends on the ship and back in Boston would be together. "Codester, we need to have a party."

"Mom and Dad said we were going to be doing something fun for the two days we're docked there."

"That's fine if you want Codes, but I was thinking something bigger. We have this whole ship, all of Boston, so why not make the most of it?"

"Because we barely earned enough money to eat after you spent all the money on our student cash cards."

"But you're forgetting something, or should I say someone really important."

"You don't mean…"

"Oh but I do, if we can convince London to throw this, then we won't have to worry about money. Remember her 16th birthday party?"

"Yeah, I also remember you broke the TV I got there a week afterwards."

"Cody, it's not my fault that it just happened to fall in the toilet."

"Yes it is."

"True…Anyway, we need to convince London this will be about her, and that we're only helping her."

"I don't know Zack; that seems a bit deceitful."

"I wouldn't call it deceit as much as I'd call it a colourful tale that isn't altogether true. Think about how cool a party with your closest friends could be, Cody. You could impress Bailey with your awesome culinary skills when you cater the party."

Cody pictured himself feeding Bailey mouthfuls of his delectable chocolate mousse by the spoonful under the starry night sky. Then he imagined all the compliments that he would receive from the remaining party guests who would ask for the recipe for his mouth-watering Tempura prawns. Cody's mouth curled into a goofy grin at the thought.

"Alright, you talked me into it. Let's go find London," Cody said and the twins went to find the heiress.

_

"So, let me get this straight, you think I should throw a marvelous party to celebrate my return to Boston?" she asked after they had explained their idea to her.

"Yep, and we'll even do all the work for you. Just tell us who you want us to invite and fork over all the money and get ready for the greatest party you've ever seen," Zack said excitedly.

"I don't know, I normally only let professional party planners handle things like this," she replied.

"London," Zack said putting his arm around her shoulder, "I see how you think, but I've been your friend for years, so who better to pull off something like this than us. I promise, this will be like nothing even a professional could pull off."

"Don't worry London," Cody added, "I'll make sure Zack doesn't go too overboard and this will be the best party you have ever seen."

"Okay I guess, just don't invite too many poor people," she said.

"Don't worry, just a few of our closest friends," Zack said as he began going through all 185 contacts in his phone.


	2. Night of the Party

**Man of Faith**

**Night of the Party**

It was time to get the party started. Zack and Cody had used the money that London had provided for the celebration and went all out.

Cody had decided to take control of the kitchen and even he was amazed by the results. Asking for help from an old acquaintance and mentor from The Tipton Hotel, Chef Paolo, the two culinary masterminds whipped up a buffet full of food that would make even the most famous chefs in the world speechless. Everyone who had gotten a taste of the food had asked the boys where it was catered from, only to find out that Cody and Chef Paolo made it all themselves. Even Woody, who practically ate anything in sight, was mesmerized by the exotic taste. While Cody was busy in the kitchen, Zack's job was the Sky Deck.

Zack of course, didn't pull off the decorations on his own. He had some how convinced the crew of the S.S. Tipton, along with Mr. Moseby and Ms. Tutweiller to help with the decorations. (Of course, the crew probably had thousands of "reasons" to help out). Mr. Moseby and Ms. Tutweiller on the other hand, obtained a written agreement from Zack that he would adhere to certain ground rules for the party and for once, Zack was not planning on breaking any of them. He truly wanted a celebration for coming back to Boston and wanted nothing more than to enjoy the festivities with his family and friends.

Zack got all that he hoped for. The Sky Deck was a buzz as there was a dance floor right in middle with party lights and decorations strung all around the staircase. On the dance floor, you see faces both young and old, from their mother and father, Moseby and Tutweiller, Estaban and Francesca, Bob and Barbara, Max and Tapeworm, the twins Janice and Jessica, Mary-Margaret and Corrie, to even Connie and Senora Ramirez dancing to the music from the expensive sound system the DJ provided.

Along the side was one of the most popular DJ in all of Boston. Luckily for the boys, their connection with celebrities such as Jordin Sparks and Hannah Montana allowed them access to a variety of resources. Of course, being friends/roommate with Lil Little helped as well. Right besides the dance floor you see long tables full of food that Cody and Chef Paolo had slaved over. Zack, Cody, Bailey, Woody, Addison, and Marcus were currently getting food for themselves at that moment. Cody couldn't resist feeding Bailey a prawn from his own plate.

"Cody, this tastes so good! You're amazing!" Bailey gushed with delight as she savoured every single bite.

"Thanks," Cody replied somewhat smugly as he shared a furtive glance with Zack.

"Then again, I should've already known that from when you took over the cooking class." Bailey went on appreciatively.

"Ah, cooking class. Some of my finest work." Cody murmured suavely while blowing imaginary dust off his finger nails.

"Most of it having nothing to do with your superb cooking skills," Bailey muttered darkly, remembering the multitude of girls that had flirted shamelessly with Cody while in her presence.

Cody blushed awkwardly, remembering Bailey's meltdown in cooking class all too well. He cleared his throat loudly and decided to steer the subject away from his many female admirers.

"I can't believe we actually pulled all of this off in such a short time," Cody remarked pointedly as the group sat down at a table.

"I told you we could and you didn't trust your big brother to make it happen," Zack replied a smug look on his face.

"Well unlike you, Cody didn't exactly bribe the whole crew to do his job for him," Bailey coming to the defense of her boyfriend.

"Hey! I supervised. Therefore, I was doing my job. Besides, it wasn't like Cody and Chef Paolo didn't have a kitchen staff to help them out." Zack retorted.

"That is true and Zack would have been hard pressed to get this all done by himself. You got to admit, this is impressive," said Marcus as he scanned the room.

"So is the food. Cody, if you ever open up a restaurant in Boston, I would move my entire life here and be your best customer," Woody said with a huge smile as he tasted one of the appetizers.

"Thanks Woody, I'm just glad you guys all enjoy the food. Addison wait! That dessert actually has a lot of sugar in it."

"Umm…Addison, honey…why don't I eat that for you? Here, I think Cody said this is the sugar free dessert." Woody said as he took the sugar-laded dessert from Addison's plate and replaced it with its sugar free counterpart. Woody and Addison had decided after the "marriage" assignment to actually give their on and off flirting relationship a chance and they've been going strong ever since.

"WOODY! I WANTED THAT!! You won't even let me enjoy one night of being hyper to celebrate being in Zack and Cody's hometown! I just want to have a little bit of fun while we're here in Boston and it's just not fair that…" Addison started to rant, which was cut off by Woody grabbing the dessert on her plate and putting it into her open mouth.

After she finished swallowing the dessert, Addison looked at Cody and smiled, "I forgot that Sir Chef was an excellent cook, with or without sugar"

If looks could kill, Addison would have been dead by the glare that Bailey was giving her from across the table at the mention of the pet name the girls in home ec had used to flirt with Cody. Bailey knew that Cody's heart belongs to her, but it still stung sometimes when she is forced to recall that one particular event.

"You know something? I just realized that I don't see London or Maddie anywhere. Anyone know where they are?" Zack asked as he had picked up Bailey's glare at Addison even before his somewhat clueless brother had been able to.

"London was finishing up her make up when I left the room 15 minutes ago. I think she'll be coming out soon," Bailey told Zack.

"Well she better be here soon, this is after all, her party." Marcus replied, eagerly waiting to bask in the beauty that is London Tipton.

As if on cue, London Tipton suddenly appeared on stage in front of the DJ with mic in hand.

"LADIES AND QUENTLEMAN! It is my pleasure to welcome you to the first ever-major celebration of ME on my daddy's boat. I would like to thank Zack and Cody for putting together this whole event," London said as she points to the twins. To say they were shocked was an understatement because London Tipton rarely if ever gave others compliments. However, over the 2 years at sea, London had done the one thing her father had set her out to do while travelling the world. London had matured a bit and was starting to be aware of others, especially her closest friends.

"Have fun tonight and enjoy everything, but most important of all, remember to come talk to me and tell me how pretty I am. YAY ME!!" London exclaimed as she handed back the mic to the DJ. Of course, that didn't mean there weren't still traces of the old London.

After greeting people she knew on the dance floor, London walked over to where the rest of her friends sat.

"Wow London! You look good in that dress." Marcus said giving her a once over.

"Thanks Marcus! Are you guys enjoying the party?" London asked looking at everyone.

"This party is amazing. I still can't believe you gave Zack and Cody money to do this," Woody said in amazement.

"The money was nothing and the party was after all for me so of course I'll pay for it."

"Hey London, do you have any idea when Maddie will get here?" Zack asked out of curiosity.

"Hideous hair Maddie? She said she would get here a little bit after the party got started…OH! There she is right there. MADDIE!! OVER HERE!!" London exclaimed as she waved Maddie over from her position on top of the stairs down to where the group was.

"HEY GUYS!! I haven't seen all of you ever since I last came on the boat." Maddie said as she gave hugs to London, Bailey, and Cody. After hugging them, she took a look at Cody and Bailey and said; "I still haven't gotten a chance to say this in person, but congratulations again you two. You two look so cute together"

"Thanks Maddie!" Bailey exclaimed while Cody made sure Maddie got a good look at the other three people in the group. "Maddie, these are our friends that you didn't get to meet last time around. This is my roommate Woody and his girlfriend, Addison. The gentleman that you see here is Marcus Little, Zack's roommate" Cody introduced them to Maddie as she shook each of their hands.

"WOW! So you're Cody's roommate? I've heard a lot about you and I've heard a lot about you from Bailey and London," as she looked at Woody and Addison.

"And Marcus, how does it feel to have Zack as a roommate?"

"Pretty good most of the time. We get along well, as long as I never wear any of his clothing by accident ever again."

"HEY! It wasn't my fault that green stuff started to grow on the inside of my socks!" Zack exclaimed.

Disgusted by where the conversation was going, Maddie turned towards Zack and looked at him with a smirk, "So, no "Sweet Thang"? You aren't even going to ask me for a hug?"

Zack smiled at her teasing and went over to give her a huge hug and said, "Welcome aboard Sweet Thang. How's everything in college?"

"As well as the last time we spoke. I'm keeping up with my grades and attempting to date at the same time."

"No luck huh? Well don't worry, you'll definitely find someone and if you can't ever find anyone, there's always me!" Zack said in a serious tone with a sparkle of mischief in his eyes.

"Oh Zackie! You know I would so marry you if it means not growing up and becoming an old maid"

The two of them were going back and forth teasing each other. If someone from the outside were looking in, one would think that Zack and Maddie were together. Needless to say, that was far from the truth. After the incident with Prince Jeffy and the subsequent kiss from Maddie, Zack and Maddie did not talk to each other for months before Zack had finally cracked and contacted Maddie. It was that day that Zack realized him and Maddie never could be and the two had a long and hard discussion about their relationship. They finally concluded that they are better off as friends and treated each other more like siblings or close friends.

As Zack and Maddie's playful banter continued everyone else went onto the dance floor with Cody and Bailey, Woody and Addison, and London and Marcus joining everyone else to the hypnotic rhythm of the beat. Onto the next song, the DJ decided to slow things down a bit as the couples were forming around the dance floor. As Carey accepted a dance from her ex-husband, she looked over towards her younger son and smiled. She had met Bailey for the first time earlier this evening and was quite impressed with the country girl from Kansas. She and Bailey had started off on the right foot and she hoped that Cody was making her as happy as she seemed to do for him. As Carey turned and looked at the face of Kurt Martin, she hoped and prayed that both of her sons would find the happiness they deserve and learn from the mistakes their parents had made in their marriage.

As the night wore on, the party kept going strong. London on the other hand, was so tired out with dancing with so many people that she decided to get away from everyone and take a break from all the action.

As she headed for the exit she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Zack's smiling face. Knowing what she needed he placed an arm around her shoulder and they left the party far behind for a much quieter atmosphere.

When they finally arrived on the Fiesta Deck they sighed with relief when they noticed the place was completely devoid of other human life. Both exhausted from the excitement of the day, they welcomed the peace and quiet as they walked over to a couple of nearby chairs and took a seat.

"Wow that party was really jumping," both laughed as they put up their hands and proceeded to raise the roof. "I have to hand it to you Zack you really pulled this off."

"Ah thanks I'm glad you had fun."

"Well can you blame me the party was all about moi," she said making him chuckle.

"Why do I get the feeling you know the truth?" he asked quizzically while studying her features.

"Truth?" she replied her face etched in fake ignorance.

"Don't give me that, you know what I'm talking about?"

"You mean that the party wasn't for me but for you and Cody?" she told him with a mischievous smile. "I may have had an inkling."

"You know London you're smarter than you let on?"

"Am I?" she asked while her friend studied her expression.

"I would have to say yes," he replied.

"Then I would have to agree with you."

They both sat quietly for a minute not realizing that they were no longer alone. A figure sat in the shadows waiting for an opportunity to strike and from the looks of it, the wait wasn't going to be a long one.

"I'm going to head back, don't want to keep all those hot babes waiting. They must miss me by now."

"I'm sure they've organized a search party by now," she snickered.

"Exactly, so it would only be fair of me too put them out of their misery."

"That would be the right thing to do," she replied playing along.

"Will you be okay out here by yourself?" Zack asked her.

"It's my daddy's ship, what can happen?"

"True, alright, then goodnight London."

"Goodnight Zack," she answered as he was about to leave then stopped him remembering what they had talked about. "Oh, and Zack, please don't tell anyone else I know the truth about the party, then they might actually think I'm smarter than I am, and expect things from me."

"Your secret is safe with me," the tall blond boy smiled leaving the deck.

As she sat by herself she began to think of her friends and how wonderful she had it. Granted she wasn't always the smartest, kindest, nor most sensitive person ever, but she did have a heart and was glad that her true friends saw her for that. Even she knew that this party wasn't truly for her and that the twins had used that excuse to get her to donate to their cause. London was happy to do it, but she would never admit it to anyone of how generous she truly is.

As London got up and started to go back to the party, a hand suddenly grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth so that she wouldn't scream. London quickly got knocked out from the chloroform on the piece of cloth that was put up against her nose. As London's body relaxed under the influence of the chemical, she was quietly carried to a lifeboat. The kidnapper put London into the lifeboat and lowered them down quietly with the machine.

Zack had just stepped around the corner and thought he heard something, curious he redirected his steps and turned back heading in the direction of the Fiesta Deck.

"London?" he called stepping onto the empty deck. "I thought I heard…"

Zack stopped in mid sentence when he realized he was alone. Shrugging his shoulders he decided that the heiress had probably just headed off too her cabin for some much needed shut eye. He almost envied her, because he knew he'd be up pretty late on clean up duty, which was one of the deal breakers he discussed with Mr. Moseby in order to gain his permission to have the party in the first place.

So as the party went on for the rest of the night, the guests and students were oblivious to one thing:

LONDON TIPTON HAD BEEN KIDNAPPED!


	3. Strong Connections

**Woundedhearts**

**Chapter 3: Strong Connections**

He could feel himself being yanked and pulled in so many directions that his body ached. Confused by his whereabouts he asked question after question only to feel a sharp pull of his hair so that his head leaned back at a harsh angle and he was forced to look up at a sky he couldn't see through his blindfold.

A rough musky voice whispered in his ear to keep quiet and stop asking so many questions. He could feel the desperation in the man's voice as well as detect the unmistakable scent of fear. This man was afraid of something he hoped didn't involve him.

He knew he was off the ship, he could feel nothing but sand, dirt and mud as he made his way through what seemed like deep vegetation. The branches that scratched at his arms and legs left them numb and lifeless.

"What do you want with me?" He asked again but his only answer was to be shoved forward, slipping and unable to brace himself since his hands were tied behind his back, he leaned forward and waited for impact as his body hit the hard earth beneath him with a loud thud. The pain reverberated throughout his body and he had to bite his lower lip to keep from crying out.

As they moved forward at a slow but steady pace his mind analyzed the situation and tried to make sense of what was going on. Listening intently he could make out three distinct voices, ones he didn't recognize, mumbling about something he couldn't quite decipher.

He wished he could loosen his blindfold, not only did it make his eyes hurt, but it was so tight around his head that he could feel the blood rushing through it in waves of unending pressure. Trying to clear his mind yet again he listened for sounds, anything that would give him some idea of where he was.

He heard the sea behind him, the rustling around him as they made their way through the tree branches, a crunch nearby as someone stepped and chattered a rock beneath them, and animals. Snakes were slithering down tree trunks, birds flying and chirping talking to one another, wait…talking?

"Hurry up we're almost there," he heard one say as again he was roughly pushed forward. "I can't wait to finish this job and get this brat off our hands."

"Would you shut up," said the voice of a second man. "No talking until the kid is locked away."

"Locked away?" I cried. "Who are you?"

"We're your worst nightmare unless you shut your trap, and obey our orders."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because if you don't, you and I will have a little alone time and I don't really think you want that."

"That's enough, you know what the boss said," he heard a third man say. "If the package is harmed in any way we don't get paid, and this is too much money to pass up. No, this one is our meal ticket to a better life and I won't let a miscreant like you, ruin it for me. You get me?"

"Yah I get you!" He growled.

"Now let's keep moving, I see the place now."

The captive cringed at the sudden contact of a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry I won't let them hurt you." He whispered near his ear.

"You're not like them, why?"

"This is something I have to do?" he answered softly.

"But why, why on earth would you want to purposely get involved in something like this?"

"I'm sorry but."

"Please let me go?" he said. "I won't tell anyone it was you who helped me I've never seen your face and won't be able to recognize you."

"I can't do that, I wish I could, but you see I need that money."

"Why is that money so important that…?"

"Because without that money, my family will starve, and I can't let that happen. I'm sorry, I truly am."

"Hey, no talking back there." And in an instant he felt the man leave his side.

The small group trudged on as he pondered whether they would ever get to their destination and in many ways if he really wanted them too. He didn't like where this was headed but he couldn't understand why they would want him. He wasn't rich; he didn't own anything of value that a thief might want to steal.

He thought about Cody and his mom and what they must be thinking, and London…London where did that come from. Brushing it off he figured he must be in shock over the situation and pushed the thought to the back of his mind.

A minute later he walked into an opening and heard someone say we're _here_. He didn't know wither to be relieved that they were out of the jungle, which is what he realized that path was, or if he should try to make a run for it, which in his own mind would be illogical since he couldn't see two feet in front of him.

Again he was grabbed and pulled roughly forward to what he felt were some concrete steps, and pushed though an opening which he believed was a door. Landing hard on his side he groaned at the sudden impact and felt the coolness of a marble floor beneath him. He was pulled up on his feet a minute later by a comforting hand.

"You've done well," yet another voice stated. "Leave Us."

"But…"

"Don't worry; my assistant will see that you are compensated nicely for fulfilling your end of the bargain."

"If I may ask what will happen to the young girl?"

"She is not your concern any longer."

_The What?_ Suddenly his heart began to pound and his breathing became forced as the room started to spin around him. A fear gripped him as he struggled to stay on his feet, but an overwhelming power over took him and his body slumped to the floor once again.

Before he blacked out completely he heard a distinct voice in his head call out to him and in the next moment he was standing before a small figure lying on the floor, with raven hair and almond shaped eyes. He blinked a few times to make sure of what he was seeing, but before he could really understand the situation, he heard his name once again.

"Zack wake up?" Roughly he came alive as he sat up in bed staring into the eyes of his little brother.

"Zack are you okay?" he asked as Cody placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and wiped his bangs from his eyes.

Zack looked around the cabin and at his friends, Marcus, Woody, Bailey and Maddie all looked concerned taking note of his appearance, the sweat on his brow and the fear in his eyes.

He laid back down and placed two hands over his forehead, closing his eyes he tried desperately to get the sight of London lying on that cold floor out of his mind, but when he couldn't he sat up again. Once again taking note of everyone in the room when he didn't find who he was looking for, he asked the obvious question.

"Where's London?" He asked trying to wrap his mind around what his dream had meant.

"That's what we came to tell you," Cody stated. "London has been…"

"Kidnapped," Zack told him before his brother could finish his statement.

"How did you know?" The younger twin stared at him confused, and wanting an explanation, "We just got the note this morning."

"I'll tell you about it later, right now that's not important, "He replied."I know where they've taken her, and we need to hurry."

* * *

**How was Zack able to be connected with London in that way? Who are the kidnappers and what do they want from London? Will the twins be able to do anything to save their friend?**


	4. Contact & Plans

**Snapplelinz**

**Chapter 4: Contact and Plans**

The S.S. Tipton had never been busier and crowded with passengers on this particular day. It hadn't been this busy when Hannah Montana herself had been on board en route to Hawaii with her myriad of adolescent fans. Nor had the passengers looked as confused and scared as they did right then and there as they wandered across each deck. All of them were wondering the exact same thing in that moment. How had London Tipton, the most famous hotel heiress in the known world, been kidnapped right off her father's own luxury cruise ship in the midst of a party given in her honour?

The police were asking the passengers the exact same thing as they questioned each of them in turn on their whereabouts during the course of the night when London was rumoured to have disappeared. It had been three days since London's disappearance and it looked like they hadn't made any headway.

"I can't believe this is happening," Bailey murmured into her hands for the umpteenth time all morning long.

She was sitting in Cody's lap while he wrapped his arms around her waist in a soothing manner. His face was grim as he pondered on the night's events, finding no words to comfort his girlfriend with. Zack and Maddie sat beside them on the Lido Deck along with Addison, Woody, Mary-Margaret and Corrie. Marcus wasn't with them because he was being interrogated by one of the policeman on whether he had noticed anything suspicious during the party thrown in London's honour. None of them had barely said a word to one another in days save to express their utter shock and disbelief about the thought of anyone wanting to kidnap London.

Zack tried his hardest to get the image of London lying on the ground in his nightmare out of his head, but it was no use. How he had instinctively known that she had been kidnapped before Cody came to tell him still bothered him immensely. It was as if he and London had been sharing the same brain in that particular moment and time. Zack honestly didn't know which was worse: sharing headspace with a brainless hotel heiress who just happened to be one of his best friends or sharing headspace with a brainless hotel heiress who just happened to be one of his best friends, who was also now in danger. The ransom note sent by the kidnappers hadn't given any inkling of London's whereabouts or any guarantees of her personal safety. Just the amount that they wanted: $500,000,000 in untraceable bills.

"I can't just sit here and do nothing," Maddie stated determinedly as she got to her feet.

"What do you mean by that, Maddie?" Zack sternly as he looked up at her.

Maddie shrugged as she got to her feet.

"I don't even know anymore, Zack. I need to stretch my legs." She murmured tiredly.

"I'll come with you," Bailey announced abruptly to everyone's surprise as she got out of Cody's lap.

"I'll be back soon," she added in an undertone as she clasped Cody's hand briefly, a wan smile on her face.

Maddie nodded slowly at Bailey. She glanced at the twins one last time before walking with Bailey in the general direction of the Lido Deck.

Suddenly, Mr. Moseby came towards the twins and their group of friends with an unfathomable expression on his face.

"Boys, would you mind stepping into my office for a moment? There's someone who would like to speak to you." Mr. Moseby announced soberly.

"Mr. Moseby, I swear that the stink cloud I set off in Ms. Tutweiller's class was the last prank. You don't have to send me back to Mr. Blanket. For the love of God, I'm begging you, my good man! I haven't been able to eat a banana since my last session with him!" Zack remonstrated dramatically as he shook Mr. Moseby by the shoulders.

"Don't touch me, don't touch me!" Mr. Moseby exclaimed in disgust as he shook out of Zack's grasp and smoothed out his jacket once more.

"Would you calm down, Zack? You're not in trouble, for once. There's someone on the phone who would like to speak to both you and Cody in private." Mr. Moseby added in a dignified tone.

"Who is it, Mr. Moseby?" Cody asked curiously as he got to his feet.

"A representative from Tipton Industries, Mr. Ming Hyun." Mr. Moseby answered calmly.

"And he wants to speak to us?" Zack asked quizzically.

"Yes he does. He requested the utmost discretion, which is why I have transferred the call to the phone line in my office. Please follow me," Mr. Moseby advised courteously, gesturing in the direction of his office.

"We'll be back soon, guys." Cody greeted politely as he and Zack followed Mr. Moseby.

"I wonder what that was about," Corrie mused suspiciously.

"No idea. Maybe London's father is conducting his own personal investigation into London's kidnapping." Mary-Margaret responded meekly.

"Oh no!" Woody exclaimed abruptly as he got to his feet.

"What's wrong, Woody?" Addison asked in alarm.

"My iPod! I think I've lost it!" Woody howled in disappointment as he patted his pockets haphazardly.

"Woody, what are you talking about?" Corrie questioned wearily.

"My new Nano with the video camera. I had it on me yesterday before the party. I was going to record the party guests, but I totally forgot about it. It must've fallen out of my pocket. Oh man!" Woody exclaimed exasperatedly as his hands clutched at his bushy hair.

"Glad to see where your priorities are at," Mary-Margaret quipped dryly.

**********

In the meantime, Zack and Cody had entered Mr. Moseby's small but plush office and he had shown them to the phone.

"I'll leave you two alone. I have to speak to Kirby about a security matter. Press the button at the bottom if you need to transfer the call to 'speaker phone'. Try not to upset Mr. Ming or destroy my office." Mr. Moseby advised sardonically before exiting.

The twins glanced at one another apprehensively before Cody pressed the 'speaker phone' button and picked up the receiver.

"Hello?" he asked tentatively.

"Zack and Cody Martin?" a young man with an Asian accent asked expectantly on the other end.

"Yes, this is Zack and Cody Martin. Are you Mr Ming?" Zack asked slowly.

"Ming Hyun at your service. But you may call me Jerry if it pleases you." The man answered courteously.

"Okay…Jerry. What can we do for you?" Zack asked curiously.

"Before I begin, are we speaking on a protected line?" Ming Hyun asked apprehensively.

"Uh, I think so. Mr. Moseby said that you wanted the utmost discretion, and he's the most private person we know." Cody offered stoically.

"Very well, I will begin. Am I to understand that the two of you are very good friends of Ms Tipton?" Ming Hyun began delicately.

"Yeah, we've known each other for years." Zack answered evenly.

"Good. Then I am right in thinking that the two of you would do almost anything to insure her safe return." Ming Hyun answered gravely.

"Well, anything that doesn't involve breaking the law of course." Cody put in hastily as a pre-caution.

"Of course. I have every reason to believe that Ms. Tipton is in grave danger and that the police's efforts to locate her will be in vain." Ming Hyun began in a low and eerie voice.

Zack and Cody glanced at each other in horror before Cody responded to this astonishing prediction.

"What exactly are you saying, Mr. Ming?" Cody asked steadily.

"I am saying that there is a force at work here that the police may inadvertently underestimate in their efforts to locate Ms. Tipton. But with your help, I believe that this error can be corrected before it is too late." Ming Hyun answered sombrely.

"You're gonna have to be way more specific than that." Zack interjected curtly, not liking the man's tone at all.

"Unfortunately, I cannot, since I am in the dark as much as you are. I only meant to say that should you decide to look for Ms. Tipton on your own, Tipton Industries would be happy to oblige you in your endeavours. Your reputation precedes you," Mr. Hyun answered delicately.

"We're flattered. And why would Tipton Industries want to help us do something as risky as that?" Cody demanded suspiciously.

"Not only am I an esteemed representative at Tipton Industries, but I am also Ms. Tipton's cousin." Mr. Ming responded seriously.

"You're family of London's?" Zack demanded incredulously.

"I am. Therefore, her safe return is a priority of mine." Mr. Ming replied softly.

"Does London know about this? About you being related to her?" Cody asked shrewdly, causing Zack to frown at him in confusion.

"We are acquainted, but she is not aware of my direct connection to her. I took the position at Tipton Industries so that I could fulfil my duty to look after my cousin and protect her from a distance." Mr. Ming explained frankly.

"And who exactly put you up to this 'duty'?" Zack asked while making air-quotes.

"Mine and London's grandmother, Khun Yai. I grew up in the same village where Khun Yai lives in Thailand. After London's last visit, Khun Yai grew worried about London's safety after my Uncle Wilfred's more recent business deal that was unfavourably received by environmentalist and humanitarian groups around the world. She asked me to alert anyone close to London if the occasion ever arose. The only ones that London has ever mentioned that she was close to, even in passing, were the two of you." Mr. Ming explained patiently.

"You say that you want to help should we decide to go looking for London ourselves. How exactly would you do that?" Cody asked curiously.

"Yeah, do you mean giving us money and stuff?" Zack asked eagerly.

"Certainly, money would be no object. But I was referring mostly to any technologically advanced equipment that you may require that Tipton Industries could provide expediently such as cameras, computers, and weaponry if necessary." Mr. Ming responded stoically.

"Sweet!" Zack exclaimed jubilantly.

"Hold on Mr. Ming! Don't you think this is bordering on illegality here? Firstly, Zack and I are teenagers. Secondly, surely Mr. Tipton himself is conducting his own series of investigations into London's kidnapping. I doubt that he would take too kindly to the two of us taking matters into our own hands that could jeopardise her safety." Cody pointed out apprehensively.

"That is exactly why I am asking for your help. I believe that my uncle may have been compromised." Mr. Ming replied rapidly.

"What do you mean by 'compromised' exactly?" Cody asked tentatively.

"I mean that at this point and time, it is impossible to know who is working in his favour or who is working towards his demise. I have reason to believe that my uncle may be in just as much danger as my cousin. I myself have to be careful about who I divulge my suspicions to. This is why I am asking, pleading with the two of you to help London. I will offer my services to you to the best of my ability, but you have to trust me that I only want my cousin's safe return to her family and friends." Mr. Ming answered emphatically.

Cody and Zack looked at each other wordlessly for a second or two before they had made up their minds.

"What do you want us to do?" Zack asked calmly.

"I will send you a package aboard the S.S. Tipton at exactly 17:00 hours when it anchors in Boston. You will examine the contents of this package in the confines of your own cabin. If you are going to look for my cousin, then I suggest you leave the ship as soon as possible by any means necessary. I will ensure that Mr. Moseby himself signs for the package so that it does not fall into the wrong hands." Mr. Ming responded succinctly.

"Maybe this is a stupid question, but are we allowed to tell anyone about this?" Cody asked wearily.

"I will leave that decision entirely up to your own discretion. But whoever you tell, make sure that they can be trusted implicitly. The package will contain a private number where you can reach me 24 hours a day should you have any further questions."

With that, Mr. Ming hung up the phone promptly.

"Weird." Zack murmured knowingly.

"Tell me about it. But I believe him when he said that he wants to help London." Cody responded earnestly.

"Me too, considering how many people in the world would willingly help London. I can't help believing a guy who wilfully calls himself Jerry." Zack remarked lightly, causing Cody to chuckle for the first time in 24 hours.

As they exited Mr. Moseby's office, they both furrowed their eyebrows in confusion as Woody sprinted past them, yelling something about 'finding the stinking crooks who stole his iPod'.

"And it just gets weirder." Zack remarked knowingly.

"What do you expect? The guy farts classical rock music." Cody retorted dryly as they made their way back to the Lido Deck to find their friends.

As Zack chortled over this, Cody suddenly felt his cellphone vibrating in his pants pocket. He took it out and saw that someone had just sent him a text message with a pictured attached to it. He gasped after the image had finally loaded, causing Zack to stare at him with a quizzical expression on his face.

"What's wrong?" he asked in alarm.

"Of all the strange things that have happened in the last 24 hours, this is the cherry on top." Cody murmured in a horrified tone.

Zack took the cellphone from Cody's trembling hand and glanced at the image. How he kept the phone in his hands a few seconds later, he didn't know. But he did know that he felt like retching right then and there. It was a picture of London, gagged with duck tape and mascara stains on her face from excessive crying, staring straight at the camera lens with a look of pure terror on her face. It was exactly like Zack's nightmare, only ten times worse. The twins didn't recognise the number of the cellphone which had sent the text message. But the sender had very kindly labelled the photograph with the location of where it had been taken:

Parrot Island.

*********

"No!" Bailey thundered in an irate tone.

"Yes!" Cody persisted vehemently.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Can anyone else hear an echo in here?" Woody asked facetiously as he glanced up at the ceiling.

Zack rolled his eyes at Woody's quip and addressed their group of friends once more as they stood together in his cabin the next day. The twins had already explained the gist of their phone conversation with Mr. Ming to them as well the package that he had sent them at 5pm the day before. The package itself had contained a variety of things necessary for the mission at hand: binoculars, two digital cameras (both equipped with a super magnifying zoom feature), long-range water-proof walkie-talkies, credit cards, wet suits and tasers to start. It would take all of Cody's expertise to decipher how to use the remaining gadgets in their possession.

"Guys, we've thought long and hard about this. It's the only solution." Zack answered calmly.

"Zack, this is your most messed up plan yet!" Marcus countered heatedly.

"This isn't just Zack's plan. I came up with part of it too." Cody interjected firmly.

"You can't do this. It's too dangerous." Bailey stated rapidly as she gazed intently at Cody.

"What's life without a little danger?" Zack asked lightly with his most winning smile on his face.

"You can't smooth-talk your way out of this one, Zack. Bailey's right, this is too dangerous for the two of you alone. You should let the police handle this." Maddie responded earnestly as she came to stand in front of Zack.

"Maddie, weren't you the one who said that the police were too busy investigating passengers on the ship instead of going after London's kidnappers? You wanted someone do something about bringing London back safe and sound. Well, that's what Cody and I are doing." Zack answered seriously as he looked her dead in the eye.

"At least let more of us go with you," Mary-Margaret urged anxiously.

"That's not a good idea, Mary-Margaret. Someone will notice if more of us leave the ship. Moseby's used to me and Zack breaking the rules." Cody reasoned firmly.

"Yeah, Cody's right. I for one want to stay here and…you know, keep a look-out for danger." Woody added hastily, wanting to avoid as much direct risk as possible.

"Cody, this isn't just about breaking the rules. You're talking about risking your lives on a hunch." Addison pointed out worriedly.

"More crazy than dreaming that London was kidnapped before Cody told me? Jerry is London's family and he wants to help us find her. If we don't do something, it could mean the difference between life and death for London." Zack answered gravely.

This seemed to sober up the entire group as they pondered on Zack's words. All of them had already seen the text message that had been sent to Cody's cellphone. The image of London bound and gagged had been permanently seared into their minds.

"What do you need us to do?" Corrie asked quietly.

"Keep your eyes and ears open for anything suspicious that happens on the boat. We still think that someone might've tipped the kidnappers off about how to get to London during the party. We'll leave a set of TI walkie-talkies behind so that we'll all be able to stay in constant contact with one another." Cody explained rapidly.

"And what are the two of you going to do?" Woody asked pointedly.

"First off, we're going to look for the guy who sent us that text message with the picture of London held captive on Parrot Island." Zack replied stoically.

"You're actually going to Parrot Island?!" Bailey exclaimed in amazement.

"How are you even going to get there?" Marcus demanded curiously.

"London's submarine; it always follows the ship around in case London ever wants to make a quick getaway. We've already talked to the guy who pilots the submarine and he's willing to drop us off at Parrot Island. We'll sneak off with two speed boats just to cover our bases." Cody responded succinctly.

"There's just one little teeny problem. Your parents are coming onto the boat tomorrow to take you back to the Tipton. I think they're going to notice when Mr. Moseby goes to look for you in your cabins and you're not there." Maddie pointed out dryly.

"Already taken care of. By the time our parents come aboard the S.S. Tipton, they'll get a voice message from Cody saying that he and I had to go see Bob right away because he's in the hospital with a concussion from a mishap at Wilderness Scouts involving a hungry raccoon. Between them coming on board and going back into downtown Boston, we'll have enough of a head's start to get to Parrot Island." Zack informed his friends cleverly.

"Smooth." Marcus remarked with obvious approval.

"When are you leaving?" Corrie asked curiously.

"After Kirby does his security check around the cabins tonight to make sure that the students are in bed." Cody responded simply.

"Guys, it's gonna be okay." Zack chided soothingly when he saw the grim expressions on his friends' faces.

Bailey launched herself into Cody's arms as they hugged each other tightly.

"Please don't try and be a hero," she mumbled firmly against his neck.

"Hey, you know me." Cody offered casually as he ran his hands through her long brown hair.

"That's exactly what worries me. Promise me that if you find a lead on London's whereabouts, you'll contact the authorities immediately before you try to save London yourselves without back-up." Bailey stated stubbornly.

"I promise." Cody murmured earnestly.

"Be careful," Bailey advised anxiously as she cupped Cody's cheek.

"I will. If you find out anything that can help us find London, tell Mr. Moseby or Ms. Tutweiller. They'll know what to do. You be careful too." Cody answered vehemently as he traced Bailey's bottom lip with his thumb.

The rest of the group began shifting awkwardly and coughing uncomfortably when Cody and Bailey began kissing each other with desperate fervour as they entwined their bodies together.

"Alright, wrap it up you two. This isn't a conjugal visit." Mary-Margaret sniffed indignantly.

Cody and Bailey broke apart with sheepish grins on their faces and evident blushes on their cheeks. Zack in turn glanced at Maddie with a dubious grin on his face.

"Well I guess this is goodbye for now, Sweet Thang." He greeted awkwardly.

Maddie moved towards Zack and enveloped him in a warm hug. To everyone's surprise, she leant in and kissed him on the cheek.

"Bring London home. Be careful out there," she murmured vehemently as she cupped his face with her hands.

"We will," Zack answered seriously as he finally disentangled himself from her grasp.

Zack and Cody then hugged the rest of their friends as they prepared to head back to Zack's cabin to get everything they'd need for their trip. A silence hung over the remaining group of friends as they watched the Martin twins leave. It was if they had partaken in a secret pact. But like most pacts of this nature, they all secretly hoped that the outcome wouldn't result in their downfall

*********

It was close to 11pm and most of the passengers aboard the S.S. Tipton were already inside their own cabins, turning in for the night. Only one person remained on the Sky deck, hiding in the shadows of the Easy Squeezy bar.

"Okay, the coast is clear," Woody's voice crackled conspiratorially over his walkie-talkie.

Zack and Cody joined him about two minutes later, sporting matching black attire and beanies on their hands which covered their long blonde hair.

"Thanks, Woody. We'll be in touch as soon as we're at least halfway to Parrot Island." Zack whispered hurriedly as he clapped his friend affectionately on the back.

"Be careful you two. And good luck." Woody murmured, a small lump forming in the back of his throat.

"By the way, have you guys seen my iPod?" he asked as an afterthought.

"Woody, get back to your cabin before Kirby finds you out here!" Cody snapped impatiently as he and Zack set off towards the ship's lower level.

"You're no help at all," Woody muttered at the back of Cody's head as he trudged away from the smoothie bar.

Before heading back to his own cabin, Woody went to Addison's cabin and knocked three times. Addison opened the door a few seconds later, looking as if she had never gone to bed two hours ago. She was practically giddy from all the sugar intake that she had literally inhaled during dinner.

"Come on, it's time. You're keeping first look-out tonight. The area around the Easy Squeezy is completely clear." Woody informed her quickly.

"Have they left already?" Addison whispered urgently.

"Yeah, I just said goodbye to them." Woody answered meekly.

Addison nodded wordlessly and exited her cabin, wearing brightly coloured attire, carrying binoculars in her hands.

"Addison, what are you wearing?" Woody demanded incredulously.

"Um, clothes. What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Addison asked in confusion.

"Addison, we're supposed to be going incognito tonight. You're going to stand out like a Christmas tree on deck!" Woody hissed disparagingly.

"Woody, it's the middle of the night, no one will see me. I'll go wake Maddie. She's keeping first watch with me." Addison stated in a monotone as she locked her cabin door.

"Here's a walkie-talkie. Holler if you see anything suspicious." Woody responded succinctly.

"Be careful." He added as an afterthought.

"Will do. See you in a few hours." Addison replied quickly and turned away from Woody.

"Addison!" Woody called out as another thought occurred to him.

"What?" Addison hissed back.

"Have you seen my iPod?" he asked casually.

"Go to bed, Woody! We'll talk about it more in the morning!" Addison snapped impatiently, the sugar rush clearly wearing off as she hurried towards Maddie's cabin.

"Damn, what did I do with my iPod?" Woody asked himself reproachfully as he entered his own cabin, destined to toss and turn all night thinking about it.

After making their way down to the docks where the S.S. Tipton was currently anchored, Zack and Cody found Yuri Von Bratwurst, the captain of London's private submarine, waiting for them in the shadows while he smoked a cigarette.

"Zack and Cody Martin?" he whispered furtively.

"Yuri Von Bratwurst?" Cody and Zack whispered back in turn.

After a series of secret codes and a great many gestures, the trio had finally convinced themselves that their plan was a go. The submarine stood behind them in the shadows, completely submerged above the water for the time being.

"Before you get on board, have you brought ze contraband?" Yuri demanded impatiently.

"Always gets to the point," Zack quipped dryly as he retrieved a bag of Twizzlers and chocolate-covered pretzels from his backpack.

Yuri examined the contents of both bags with a flashlight before nodding solemnly at the twins.

"It is good," he murmured seriously.

"Of course it's good, Yuri. You said you wanted the best American condiments. You're doing us a huge favour here; I wouldn't try to jip you." Zack protested earnestly.

"Can we continue this conversation on board? I don't want anyone to catch us out here," Cody whispered hurriedly.

"Come, we go now." Yuri commanded swiftly as the twins followed him on board the submarine.

After Yuri had flipped a series of buttons on the control panel, the twins steadied themselves as the submarine began to slowly disappear beneath the water. Zack and Cody watched in awe as they saw a myriad of fish and plant life sweep past the small round window as the submarine carved a pathway through the water on its way to Parrot Island. What they would find there, they didn't know yet. But no matter what happened, the twins hoped that they wouldn't find London in a worse position than the night of the party which ultimately led to her demise.

*********

**_Parrot Island…_**

London sat in the corner of the poorly lit room, sniffling and trembling all over while some of her attackers addressed her directly.

"You know, you could make this easier on yourself by just telling me what I want to know." The smallest of her kidnappers began delicately.

"But I don't know, you have to believe me." London declared fearfully through a dry sob.

"Alright, we'll do this the hard way then. You'll keep on making your little denials and I'll keep you here even longer. And believe me, that's not going to make this pleasant for either one of us." The midget replied gravely as he began pacing through the claustrophobic room.

"This isn't going to work, she should know that by now. When Moseby finds out-"

"Not even Marion can change the course of the future, my dear. And your vain hope in him or your other friends finding you is what will result in your unfortunate demise." The midget interjected sharply, causing London to recoil in horror from him.

With a sigh, the short man turned away and addressed one of the men who stood guard over the tiny make-shift cell.

"Keep an eye on her. You let me know the second that she wants to start playing ball." He instructed the guard carefully.

"Yes sir." The guard answered slowly.

The shorter man nodded once at the guard before exiting the room, leaving London to sniffle quietly in the corner. In spite of not being able to provide the head honcho with the information that she desired from the hotel heiress, he couldn't help feeling optimistic about their chances of retrieving such valuable information all the same. He focused mostly on what this information could do his own bank balance though.

"If we get this right, then I'm due a significant cut as much as she is. I could even be holding a sizable share of Tipton Industries in my tiny little hands in the near future. That'll show Marion who's more successful once and for all. Not only will I make millions. I'll be a billionaire long before he ever is. Ooh yes, I went there! Muah, muah ha ha ha HA!" the shorter man screeched with delight as he held his tiny fists above him in a triumphant stance.

**A/N: Now, it's up to the twins to go find London on their own. What will they find when they get to Parrot Island? What information does London have that her kidnappers want? What will the rest of the twins' friends discover while still aboard the S.S. Tipton? And why can't Woody stop obsessing about his lost iPod? Stay tuned for Wyntirsno's chapter up next : )**


	5. And They're Off

**WyntirSno**

**Chapter 5: And They're Off**

The sub had descended into the depths of the ocean and the twins stood gazing out the window into the murky waters. "Whoa, this is so cool," Zack remarked seeing a swordfish pass just outside the window.

"We've reached the cruising depths, so I should show you to your quarters," Yuri said, and the twins followed him down a staircase and thru a short hallway.

The twins opened the door, surprised that a light was on and as they entered, they were greeted by a familiar voice.

"Good evening boys," Mr. Moseby said as they entered the room.

The twins froze mid-step completely shocked to see the three people waiting for them. Mr. Moseby smiled at them as they looked from him to Marcus to Bailey.

"Bailey, what are you doing here? You are supposed to be on the ship where you would be safe," Cody told her. He was terrified to see his girlfriend in the sub going to uncertain danger. He was prepared for what might happen to him and Zack. He wasn't, however, prepared to have to protect his girlfriend too. She was supposed to be safe on the ship, but now all he could think about was the fact that something terrible might happen to her.

"Mr. Moseby, how… how did you know we were going to be here?" Zack asked the manager.

"Zack you know that I know everything. I always know when you and Cody are up to something," Moseby said with a Zack-like grin.

"You know we just couldn't let you guys go do this on your own, it is way too dangerous. Besides we can be more help here with you than just sitting around on the ship waiting for something to happen," Marcus explained.

"Cody please don't be mad at me, I couldn't stand you going without me. I would have been too worried about you to help on the ship," Bailey pleaded with her boyfriend. She rushed over and hugged him tightly.

"But how did you convince Yuri to let you on the sub? We had signals and bribes, what did you have?" Cody asked still holding Bailey in his arms.

"I had Root Beer and Cheese Puffs," Bailey replied grinning up at him.

"Well, I had Dr. Pepper and Red Hots," Marcus said while trying to keep a straight face.

"I didn't need a bribe, Yuri knows me and we made a deal about me using the sub a long time ago," Moseby stated confidently.

The three of them were dressed like the twins. They were all in black clothes over wet suits. The two men had on black beanies like the twins, and Bailey had on a black hoodie with her hair up in a bun so it was out of the way.

"Ok so you have a plan, don't you? Fill us in so that we may be able to help you," Moseby instructed.

"Well we were going to try to find the source of Cody's text message in a local phone book. And since there aren't that many people living there, we thought maybe we could find someone who saw something. We thought it would be best to just go around asking questions and then go from there," Zack explained.

"We also have London's picture to pass around just in case that anyone forgot who she is," Cody added.

"That's a good start, but we can't afford to take any big risks. If the kidnappers are on the island they will be watching for someone to come looking for her. We don't need for them to take any of us too." Moseby explained to everyone.

"Maybe Zack and Cody should keep a lower profile since they are more recognizable being twins and all," Bailey suggested.

"Oh pl…" Zack started.

"Actually Zack she has a point, you two are very hard to forget," Moseby interrupted. "Maybe the three of us should go looking for clues while you two get our hiding place and the equipment set up."

Zack was nearly fuming about this. He started pacing around the room mumbling about having to hurry and how no one knew how to find her but him. Cody walked over to him and put his hand on his shoulder and turned him so they were facing each other. "Zack, I think they are right. They can go through the middle of the town and, if they don't find anything we'll take the outskirts. It's not like we aren't going to be doing anything. We'll find her." He said looking him dead in the eye trying to calm him down.

"Ok Cody, you're probably right," Zack said as he took a breath to calm his nerves. " I need to talk to you alone about something anyway."

It was already 1AM, so they decided they all needed some sleep. They had a busy day ahead of them, getting everything loaded onto the jet-skis not to mention beginning the search. All they had were four bunk-beds and one full size bed. Moseby took the full bed, so the rest each picked one of the bunks, cleared off all the shoes stored in them, laid down and were immediately asleep.

A noise startled Cody awake in the middle of the night. It sounded like someone crying so he quickly sat up in his bed and searched for the sound. He heard it coming from right below him. The younger twin jumped off his bed and heard his brother whimpering in his sleep.

Cody tried saying his brother's name several times, but he didn't respond. He then decided to try shaking him awake, but Zack remained stuck in his nightmare. There was only one way to wake Zack up when he was like this. He didn't like resorting to something this cruel, but it always got the job done.

The younger twin bent down, his mouth against Zack's ear and began whispering in his ear. "Zack, I'm making chocolate chip pancakes."

"Sweet, I'll take twenty," the older twin said quickly waking up and hitting his head on the bed above him. The memories of the dream soon pushed all thoughts of food away and he stared into his brother's eyes. "Thanks Cody, that nightmare was horrible."

"What happened?" Cody asked, concern for his brother welling through him.

"W… we were traveling through a mansion, you and me. But then this short person in a dark hallway pulled out a gun. We turned to face him, and then he fired. He sh… shot you Cody! Blood squirted out of your body and you fell to the ground with a loud thud. I kneeled down beside you and cried as I watched you die."

Cody's eyes lit up at this revelation. Still, he had to be strong for his brother. The dream was likely nothing more than irrational fears. "Zack, it was just a dream," he said putting a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"I g… guess so," Zack said, still with a trembling voice. "It still really scared me."

"Scoot over," Cody said pushing his brother to the side.

"Why?"

"Remember how I'd always get in your bed when I had a bad dream back at the hotel." Zack nodded. "Well, now I can do the same for you."

Zack made room for his brother in the small bed, and they lifted the blankets over them. "Thanks Cody." The older twin felt his fears fade away with his brother next to him.

"Anytime Zack."

The next morning Yuri came in and told them they were close enough to the island for them for them to get loaded up and head out. After packing five waterproof backpacks with all their supplies, they put their wetsuits back on and waited for the submarine to surface. When it did, they opened the hatch to the storage area on the top of the sub and removed the 3 Jet Ski's. They had opted for them in place of the speedboats because they were easier to bring with them and would be easier to hide.

"I won't be far, just call and I will come and pick you all up. Tell Miss London I am hoping she is safe. Be careful all of you," Yuri said before they left.

"We will Yuri, thank you for all your help." Cody said.

"We will definitely call you. Thanks for waiting for us." Zack added.

The twins got on one Jet Ski and headed out to the caves, followed by Marcus and Bailey on another and Moseby and the equipment bag on the third. After traveling for half an hour they found a nice little cave that looked relatively dry. It seemed to be well hidden behind several trees, which would help a lot in their search. So while the twins started unloading everything, the others changed into their normal clothes so they would look more like tourists. Moseby decided that his 'Lil' Moze' clothes would keep him from being recognized. Marcus and Bailey wore swimsuits under shorts and loose button up shirts. When they were ready to leave, the twins gave them each a tracking devise (just in case) to put in their shoes, a couple of two-ways, and a couple of tazers (again just in case).

"Ok you are all set, you guys please be careful. Call us if you need anything or have any problems, and don't forget to bring back a phonebook." Zack told the group as his mind raced with advice they probably already knew.

"Marcus, will you stay with Bailey, you all should be able to find out enough info traveling in two groups?" Cody asked his friend, worry for Bailey still filling his mind.

"Don't worry Cody I won't let anything happen to her." Marcus answered him as he put his arm around Cody's shoulders in reassurance.

"Thanks Marcus I appreciate that." The younger twin said as he smiled at him. He then reached out and caught Bailey in a hug and kissed her like he was never going to see her again. When they separated the others were staring at them with surprisingly serene looks on their faces.

"Ok let's go you two; the sooner we go the sooner we can find London." Moseby said. He then climbed on his Jet Ski and started the motor. Zack had to really work at hiding his grin at seeing Moseby on a Jet Ski; it was like trying to imagine him on a Harley, something he never would have pictured normally. Bailey gave Cody one last quick kiss and climbed behind Marcus and hung on as he started to pull out behind Moseby. The twins watched them leave both lost in their own thoughts of what was happening.

"Cody," Zack said softly once the others had left, "There is something I didn't tell you about my nightmare; that wasn't my first one."

"Ok Zack, I want to know what is going on with you, are you all right? Why are you having all these nightmares all of a sudden, I'm starting to get worried about you." Cody started bombarding Zack with questions.

"I'm ok Cody don't worry, I'm just confused. That night before you came and told me about London, I… I saw or felt what was happening to her. Cody it was terrible, they had her hands tied behind her back and they were practically dragging her." He said, his eyes starting to tear up.

"It's ok Bro, let it out." Cody comforted him. "You have been spending a lot of time with London lately. We have all gotten closer in the last couple of years and you and London have been spending a lot of extra time together lately. Maybe you have just formed a bond of some kind with her." He tried to analyze to help his brother.

"No Cody this was like something out of the Twilight Zone, it was so real. She was blind folded, and they were saying the most horrible things, they took her through the jungle, she fell a few times and they just dragged her when she couldn't walk. They dragged her up some steps into a house and pushed her down onto the floor. C… Cody the scary thing is that the whole time I saw all this, I… I felt it too. I… I thought it was real and it was m… me that had been kidnapped. I was so confused. I kept trying to figure out why someone would want to kidnap me. All I could think about was y... you and Mom and what you guys were going thru." Zack said as tears were flowing down his cheeks.

Cody reached out and enveloped him in a hug. "Oh Zack that must have been horrible, I'm so sorry." He cried with tears in his eyes too. "How did you figure out that it was London?" He asked gently.

"When they pushed her on the floor, someone was telling the men that brought her there not to worry about her. When they said that everything started to swirl around and all of a sudden I was looking down at what was going on, a… and… and I saw her lying on the floor, s... she looked so fragile. Cody they are hurting her, I... I just know it." Zack said as he started to sob into his brother's shoulder.

"Shh, it will be alright." Cody said as he held his brother close.

He wasn't used to seeing his big tough 'smart elec' brother break down like this. He wasn't entirely sure if he was helping or not. He didn't really know what to tell him; he knew that he and Zack had a special connection. He also knew that if Zack was ever in danger like London was he would know it. He would feel it all the way to his bones; it was just something they've had ever since they were babies, probably before. But he attributed that to the fact that they shared an egg and everything else from the moment they came to be. How could his brother and London possibly share that same kind of bond?

As they sat in silence while Zack tried to compose himself, Zack thought he heard his name. "Did you say something?" He asked his little brother.

"No."

"Ok."

He heard it again, his name. It sounded like, no it couldn't be. "Cody, did you hear that?" Zack whispered.

"Hear what?"

"I thought I heard my name, and it sounded like it was London. But it can't be." He said so softly Cody almost couldn't hear him.

"Zack, have you ever heard that before your dream?" Cody asked.

"No."

"Ok this doesn't make sense; I don't understand how I saw her. Wasn't it just a nightmare? It was so real. I just don't get it. I couldn't have really seen London," Zack thought aloud as he started to get worked up again.

Cody stayed close trying to soothe his twin while they were both lost in thought. All of a sudden they heard a noise.

"Ok you heard that, right?" Zack asked.

As the boys stood up to investigate the others came into view. They looked ragged and worn out.

"So what did you guys find out?" Cody asked.

"The news is bad... it's really bad..." Bailey told them as a tear slipped down her face.


	6. Into The Night

**Chapter 6: Into the Night**

**Tiger002**

'_This is to one last day in the shadows  
And to know a brother's love.  
This is to New York City angels  
And the rivers of our blood_

_This is to all of us, to all of us'_

_Angels on the Moon, Thriving Ivory_

"What's wrong?" Cody asked, embracing his girlfriend in a hug as her tears streamed down his shoulder.

"I-it's London. O-one of old ladies in town said they saw her being taken through the woods late two days ago. They said there was a path of blood that went into the forest, probably hers."

"I'll make them pay!" the older twin declared, slamming his fist into his palm.

"That's not the worst part," she said through more tears, "When we went back later to see if she knew anything else, we found her front door wide open. W-w-when we went in to investigate and inside she was laying in a pool of her own blood. It was horrible."

Marcus put a comforting hand on her shoulder, trying to push the horrible images out of his own mind.

"Do you know where they went?" Cody asked through gritted teeth, trying to control his emotions. He knew now was not the time to let anger or despair take over. They needed to find London fast before anything bad happened, but rushing blindly into the situation could prove deadly.

"They said something about the forests on the east side of the island," Moseby said, "Rumor has it that there is a large mansion near there that's owned by Mr. Tipton, so that's where they could be keeping her."

"We should go then, before anything worse happens to her," Zack declared as he began to leave the cave.

"Hold on bro," Cody said putting his hand on his brother's shoulder. "We can't just run in there and rescue her. If her life is in danger, we'd only be putting ourselves at risk too. Let's think about this strategically."

"And after we're done waiting, she could be dead!"

"Calm down dude, I want to save her as much as you," Marcus said, "but Cody has a point here. We don't know what we're up against."

Zack knew time was of the essence. He saw the pain she was in through his dreams. He knew that something horrible could happen if they didn't hurry. Whatever it took, he would save her, especially when each second they waited around doing nothing meant London was a second closer to death.

"Besides, it's unlikely they'll do anything to her now," Moseby said, "After all, if they want the ransom, they'll have to make sure she keeps breathing. Since she's more valuable alive then dead, I highly doubt they'll kill her."

"I guess," Zack said looking down. He knew the logic in the manager's words, but the raging emotions inside of the teen didn't want to accept it. His heart told him that something needed to be done, and that he was the one that had to do it. Even so, the group had a point. None of them came just to do nothing. They cared about London just as much as he did. "Okay, so what's the plan?"

"Well, we managed to pick up this map in town that gave the layout of the island," the manager said as he laid the map on the ground of the cave. "This cave is on the north side of the island. The main beach where the ship docked is on the south part, with the town going from there to the middle of the island.

"On the north side is another beach, but there are a lot of rocks and other things that make it less popular. Then on the east is the forest where the parrots used to live. That's where they said London was being carried off to, so it's likely she's being held somewhere in there."

"Yeah, and with the Tipton mansion there, that would be the perfect place to keep her," Cody reasoned.

"So, we need to get in there, kick their butt, and rescue London," Zack said pounding his fist into his palm.

"Remember we want to avoid confrontation if possible," Bailey added. After hearing what London had gone through, she was scared. She knew that there was a risk in coming, but hearing those stories for herself pulled her into the reality of the situation. This wasn't just a game of cops and robbers like those she played with her brothers, this was real.

"Still, there is a time and place for action," the younger twin said, "Right Zack?" He felt the same anger building in him that his brother did. They didn't come to just play it safe, London meant too much to them to take the easy way out.

"It would be best to make our move under the cover of night," Moseby declared. "We'd be able to sneak in there undetected, and if it came to using force, we'd have the element of surprise on our side."

"That should work," Cody agreed.

"I hate just sitting around for so long, but I guess we don't have much of a choice," Zack said.

"We'll get ready to leave at midnight," Moseby declared. "Make sure you are well rested and packed."

It was 5pm and Cody found himself staring at the ocean waves colliding against the rocks surrounding the cave. He had changed from the dark black spy clothes to tropical swim trunks and. With the coming battle, Cody knew he needed to relax some, and since sleep had eluded him, he figured this was the next best choice.

Just a couple days ago, he was a normal kid studying for the final exams that were coming up in a few weeks. He was looking forward to summer break, just like all teens were. He was coming up with plans to make his and Bailey's prom a night to remember. Now though, everything had changed. Now he was about to sneak into a criminal's base in the middle of the night. Now he wondered if he'd even make it to the summer.

"This certainly is quite the mess you and Zack have gotten me into."

"Moseby, what are you doing here?" Cody asked as the manager sat down beside him.

"Same as you I guess; couldn't sleep."

"I just can't believe everything that's happened," the younger twin said softly.

"I know how you feel. London's been like a daughter to me, and I'd to anything to get her back safe."

"You're scared aren't you?" Cody could sense the fear in Moseby's voice.

"Yeah, we really don't know what tonight may hold. We could be walking right into a trap. I think a healthy dose of fear will be good for us though."

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared," Cody said looking up to the clear blue sky, "But I feel more anger at what they've done than fear for my own life. A part of me just wants to go in, kick their asses, and save London."

"That sounds like something Zack would say," Moseby said with a slight chuckle.

"Yeah, he keeps saying I'm becoming more like him. I know that's how he feels too, but we can't do anything dangerous like that. That's why I'm trying to hide my anger from him, so we don't rush into something we're not ready for."

"You're like his voice of reason then."

"I guess so."

The two of them sat in silence for the moment. The chirps of several birds filled the air as they flew overhead. The pounding waves continued colliding against the sturdy rocks of the cave. It almost seemed strange that nature seemed to take no notice of London's kidnapping. The sun set the same as it did every day, the tide ebbed and flowed as always and the birds sang the same songs they always did. For a moment, everything seemed just how it should be.

"I'm going to try getting some sleep now," Cody said, getting up from the floor and walking to the back of the cave where he had laid his sleeping bag down earlier.

"Sleep good."

"11:55" Zack said as he and his brother loaded their jet ski with their supplies for the attack. They kept what they could in the cave, and only brought the essentials for getting through this alive. Each of them carried a tazer and a Jericho 941 handgun on their belt. For a moment, they wondered if they should bring the guns, but a situation like this could call for deadly force.

"You ready for this bro?"

"Bring them on!" Zack said with a cocky grin across his face.

Cody couldn't help but smile at his brother. Even in the most serious of circumstances, Zack had a way of making his brother smile.

"Glad to hear it," the younger twin said as he made sure the ropes were knotted firmly. The last thing they needed was for their supplies and weapons to fall off into the ocean. The twins pushed the jet-skis along the sand into the ocean before jumping on them. Moseby soon followed with Bailey and Marcus right behind them.

"It's midnight," Zack announced loud enough for all of them to hear him. They turned on the motors and started out for the other side of the island. With the clouds overhead blocking out the light from the moon, the group was nearly invisible in their pitch-black clothes. They hoped that the darkness of night would conceal them until they were ready to strike. If everything went right, they could sneak in the mansion, grab London, and escape into the night before anyone knew what happened.

"There it is," Cody said pointing to a light in the distance. Looking closer, they could tell that it was coming from a window in what looked like a large mansion, just what the group was looking for.

Zack slowed down the motor on the jet-ski, quieting the vehicle so its sound wouldn't give them away. Even though they were a mile away, they didn't want to take any unnecessary risks. Going after London like this was a big enough risk.

About a minute later, Moseby noticed a bush along the side of the island, which could be good for hiding the jet skis and making a quick escape with London. After leading the teens to it, they grabbed their supplies off the skis. They made sure the guns were fully loaded and the tazers were charged. The last thing they needed was to run out of ammo during a fight. Each of them also carried a flash light.

"Cody, take these," Zack said pulling several cylindrical objects a foot long out of the backpack.

"What are those?" the younger twin nervously asked.

"Firecrackers of course."

"I didn't see those in the package from Jerry," Moseby said.

"Mr. Moseby, this is not the time to worry about any plans I had to add some excitement to the prom; instead we should be focusing on getting London."

Even though the older twin had confessed to planning one of the biggest pranks yet, Moseby knew now was not the time to focus on it. "I see your point. If we have everything, then let's go."

The five of them set out for the mansion, carefully moving through the woods, making sure to keep heading toward the light in the distance.

Zack couldn't wait to get in there and find those responsible for hurting London like that. The weight of his gun knocking against his thigh as they walked gave him a sense of power, along with a sense of responsibility. He would make them pay. He would save London. He would set things right.

Cody led the way along with his brother. He felt nervous with the weapons by his side. He knew they were necessary, but even so, he wished they could get away peacefully. That hope could quickly fade though. Even though he detested violence, he'd put that aside to help his friends get out of this safely.

Bailey stood behind her boyfriend. Her heart was pounding rapidly. She was scared. She wanted to go back to the ship. She wanted her boyfriend to hold her and tell her that everything would be all right. More than that though, she wanted to save London. She came knowing the risks, and couldn't let her fears control her. After all, she had Cody to protect her.

Marcus walked behind Zack, fighting with his weapons. When he first came on the ship, he never thought that he would grow so attached to these people. Now though, he was risking his life for his friends. That wasn't something a former music star would do, but it was something a true friend would do. He actually felt like a member of a family now, and he would do anything for his family

Moseby followed behind the others, making sure he remembered how to get back to their jet skis. Looking ahead of him though, he thought of how the twins he used to despise him, but that had changed. He knew they still had their mischievous side to them and loved to push his buttons, but he truly cared about them. They were almost like the children he never wanted, and now they were helping to rescue his daughter. Things had certainly changed.

The group finally approached the back door of the mansion. Zack walked up to it, pulled a long paper clip out of his pocket and proceeded to pick the lock. Once it was unlocked, he turned back to his companions who all nodded at him. The older twin opened the door and they entered the dark mansion.

**To be continued…**

**Thanks for reading, and we'd love any reviews that we'd get. The action starts next chapter, so stay tuned. **


	7. A Rescue Gone Bad

**Chapter 7 - A Rescue Gone Bad**

**Man Of Faith  
**

As the group entered the mansion, they were amazed at the grandeur of its interior. There were two staircases that led to the second floor, which had different corridors for the group to choose from. On the first floor, there were just as many corridors, each seemingly going one of four directions, north, south, east, and west. Although the mansion looked like it hadn't been occupied for years, the marblestatues on the first floor were well taken care of and there wasn't a speck of dust on the marble floors. This was definitely a mansion worthy of the Tiptons. As the rest of the group was deciding on where to go, Zack started to drift towards the northern end of the first floor. Cody looked up and saw that his twin had suddenly left and was walking aimlessly towards the northern corridor, quietly ran up to Zack to find out what he was doing.

"Zack!" Cody whispered loudly as he grabbed him, "Where are you going?"

"She's in this direction, I know it," Zack said as he tried to struggle out of his twin's grasp. The other three caught up to the twins and were confused at Zack's behavior.

"I thought we were going to stick together. Why did you run off like that?" Marcus asked, still trying to get a grasp of the situation.

"London is down this way, I know it. I can feel her presence in that direction," Zack said pointing towards the corridors.

"I don't know if that is a good idea Zack, not without some thought first," Moseby said looking around to make sure they were alone.

"Maybe we should trust Zack," Bailey started, "I mean, when London was kidnapped, he knew even before Cody told him. I think the two of them are maybe connected some how."

"Yeah, we talked about that while you guys were searching for clues," Cody stated as he let go of Zack. "I think Bailey's right. Zack, lead the way."

Zack nodded as he led the group down the corridors, which led to a flight of stairs going down towards the basement. All of this seemed familiar to Zack and he started to realize how close this seemed to his dream. As he was about to turn a corner, a bullet flew past him and struck the wall.

"Whoever is there, come out with your hands up!" shouted a voice that seemed familiar to three of the five. "Ve have you shurrounded," said another familiar voice. Taking out their handguns and making sure the chamber was loaded, the fivecame out from the corner and drew on their targets. To their surprise, there was a set of goons behind the two peoplewho were speaking. His voice never gave away his short stature and her German accent always grated Moseby's last nerve, but the trio knew exactly why those voices sounded familiar. Standing in front of 5 hired goons were none other than Spencer Moseby and Ilsa Shickelgrubermeiger.

**S.S. Tipton (Earlier in the day)**

Maddie was currently talking to one of the passengers on the Sky Deck, asking the middleage woman if she had seen anything pertaining to the night in question. The lady wasn't very helpful and Maddie thanked her for her time. She formed a weary look on her face, as the feeling of being so helpless while her best friend was missing didn't sit well with her. She had wanted to be part of the team that stowed away with the twins to go rescue London, but Mr. Mosebywanted at least two people on board that he could faithfully trust. Emma Tutweiller being one of them and she being the other one. As she was about to scream from the frustration of the whole situation, Addison walked by Maddie.

"Any luck on your end?" Addison asked.

"No! If I did, would I just be standing here right now?" she snapped.

"Whoa, sorry, I was just wondering. It's not like the rest of us had any luck either."

"I know that and I'm sorry. I'm just so antsy right now because I'm not only worried about London, but the twins, Moseby, Bailey, and Marcus as well."

"We all are and we're doing the best we can. So far, none of our surveillance has caught anything suspicious." Addison said as she put a hand on Maddie's shoulder.

"I'm beginning to wonder about something. This just feels more and more like an inside job. There is no way they could have gotten to London so quietly without any of us noticing. Even if we were partying that night, there was too much stealth. It's like as if they planned this for months," Maddie commented as she thought about things.

"Who would be the insider though?" Addison wondered.

Before Maddie could come up with an answer, another problem presented itself as Carey and Kurt walked onto the Sky Deck and towards the long time friend of the twins.

"Maddie, have you seen Zack and Cody anywhere?" Carey asked.

"No, I thought they told you guys," Maddie answered in a bit of a rush, as if she was hiding something.

"No, the last time I talked to the boys, they said they would meet us on the ship," Kurt said. Just as he said that, his phone vibrated, signaling that there is a text. He opened his phone to see a text from Cody telling him that he and Zack were already in Boston visiting Bob, who apparently was injured in a Wilderness Scout incident. As Kurt showed the text to his ex-wife, it only took Carey two seconds to turn towards the two young women with anger and fear in her eyes.

"Addison, Maddie, where are my babies?" Carey asked trying to keep her emotions in check.

"H-How would w-we k-know?" Addison replied with a stutter.

"Because you two look like you have something to hide and the boys are slipping in their skills. You would think that if they were going to tell a blatant lie about Bob they would make sure he was in on the lie," Kurt stated.

"We just saw Bob at the Tipton before we left and he is currently waiting in our suite for Zack and Cody to come home. So I'll ask you this one more time, WHERE ARE THEY?" Carey stated as she moved closer to the two fear stricken ladies. Maddie saw she had no choice, but to tell the truth. As she telling Kurt and Carey what was going on, no one noticed a shadow underneath the staircase, listening to every word.

**S.S. Tipton (Mystery cabin)**

Inside one of the cabins on the S.S. Tipton, a figure was currently on the computer, linking them to their contacts on Parrot Island where the rest of their allies were. As call was answered, a screen popped up showing none other than Spencer Moseby.

"Spencer, how is our "guest" enjoying her accommodations?" the figure inquired.

"She is still refusing to tell us anything. The girl swears she has no idea what you are looking for Mastermind," Spencer said while fidgeting his fingers.

"SHE IS LYING! That brat knows exactly where her daddy kept it. Keep interrogating her until she cracks," the figure called Mastermind said with pure anger.

"As you wish, Mastermind," Spencer bowed.

"Oh and a bit of a warning. It seems as if the twins, along with the country brat, the has-been singer, and your buffoon of a little brother are on the island. Make sure that when they find their way inside the mansion, a couple of "welcoming committees" will be waiting for them," Mastermind said with a grin.

Spencer Moseby could only smile at the prospect of that as he nodded and signed off. The Mastermind continued to sit on the chair, staring deeply in thought. Soon, the figure thought, soon the complete plot will come to fruition.

**Mansion Basement (present time)**

The five could only stare at the obstacle that was in their way from finding London. Zack knew that Ilsa and Spencer must have something to do with London's disappearance and if his feelings were correct, they were currently blocking their path.

"Get out of the way you two and take your goons with you. We have no time for your games," Zack shouted.

"Oh but ve vant to play, especially with Moseby," Ilsa said with a taunt as she brought out a whip.

"How does it feel little brother to lose someone you love? Oh that's right, you haven't lost them yet, but you soon will," Spencer said as he brought out his own handgun.

"Spencer! I suggest you get out of our way. We have no quarrels with you or Ilsa. We're here only to get London back home where she belongs," Moseby said, as he steadied himself for the oncoming battle.

"Oh no Moseby, you got it all wrong. If ze rich little brat is who you are looking for, then ve have problem with you," Ilsa answered as she snapped her fingers and each goon stood in a fighting stance, ready to pounce on their targets.

As the two groups continued their standoff, Marcus looked over towards Zack, Cody, and Bailey and said, "When I make the first move to surprise them, the three of you go together and ram through them and continue on to find London. Mr. Moseby and I will handle them."

"Marcus! That's insane! You and Moseby can't hold them off by yourselves," Cody said.

"It's better than having all of us stuck here. We'll be fine, you three need to forge on," Moseby answered as he prepared himself.

"No time for any arguments! GO!" Marcus shouted orders as he pushed off of his left foot and jumped into the air and aimed his gun straight at the biggest goon of all, who happened to be in the middle. Marcus shot with deadly accuracy as the first shot went straight through the middle of his head, killing the goon instantly. Moseby took Marcus' lead and fired four shots at the two goons on the right, hitting all four shins on the two goons, immobilising them.

As Marcus landed on his jump, he rolled forward and kicked the handgun away from Spencer as he took aim at the last two goons, hitting both straight in the heart, making Marcus' kill count to 3. He didn't enjoy this at all, but this was necessity at its worst. He knew that things were different right now and if he hesitated for even a second, the villains would not hesitate to end his life along with his friends.

As it stood now, the only fight left was a face off between Marcus and Spencer in one match up and Ilsa and Moseby in the other. Seeing the opening that was made by Marcus and Moseby, the trio took the opportunity and ran past the former blockade and down the corridors that lead to London. As the three continue on, they prayed for the safety of the comrades they left behind. They were left with one thought along with their prayers; the sacrifice of their friends will NOT be in vain.

**S.S. Tipton (A few hours earlier)**

It had been over 24 hours since the group on the boat had heard from the fivethat had left for Parrot Island and they were starting to get worried while the S.S. Tipton was making it's way towards Parrot Island. Their own efforts to find anything wrong with the crew and passengers had been for naught since it seems as if whoever did this was very precise in their calculations. Maddie was currently sitting on London's bed in London and Bailey's cabin with Ms. Tutweiller, Corrie, Mary-Margaret, Addison, Carey, and Kurt all spread around, waiting for any news from the fiverescuers. Carey and Kurt weren't too surprised that the twins had lied to them. Ever since the news of London's kidnapping, they knew that when push came to shove, their boys would always shove back. So now, along with everyone else, they could only wait and hope. It wasn't before long when they heard screams of joy as Woody ran into the cabin, with his IPod Nano in his hands.

"GUYS! Guess what?"

"Woody, we don't care if you got your IPod back. Get with the program that something more important is happening here," Addison snapped at her boyfriend.

"Would you please let me explain? I was looking through my nano and it appears that it had accidentally recorded something during the night of the kidnapping."

"Wait, you found your IPod in one of the plants on the Fiesta Deck right?" Ms. Tutweiller said, remembering where London was last seen.

"Yes, and it seems as if I got the kidnapping on tape!" Woody exclaimed.

This got everyone up as they crowded Woody to get a glance at the video. As they watched the video being played from that night, they saw the entire kidnapping and it looked like London never had a chance to struggle much as they had drugged her to keep her silent. As they were watching the video, Addison noticed something familiar and had asked if Woody could zoom in on the kidnapper. Woody did as he was asked and replayed the video again. As it got to a certain scene, Addison told Woody to pause and zoom in on the hand.

"Guys, look at the hand and tell me you see what I see," Addison said.

The group took a look at the hand and saw that the kidnapper never wore any gloves and that on the left hand there was a ring. It wasn't just any ring; it was one that will definitely look familiar to some of the passengers, crew, and students on the ship.

"Wait, doesn't that ring belong to…" Ms. Tutweiller began to say before feeling lightheaded and collapse. The rest of the group wasn't far behind as they each collapse one by one onto the floor of the cabin. The door soon opened with a few henchmen entering along with a woman in a gas mask, smiling deviously at how well the plan was unfolding.

**Mansion Basement (Present time)**

As the trio continue on down the endless hallways that they find themselves in, Zack continued to let his instincts guide him towards his friend. Bailey was getting really frighten now, as it seems there were more than one major player in this kidnapping. She also couldn't stop wondering how Marcus and Mr. Moseby were handling their foes. She could only grabbed onto Cody for support and oddly enough, that seems to be just enough. Cody on the other hand, couldn't help, but wonder who else was in on this plot. They had already met two former foes of Mr. Moseby and to some extent, him and Zack. Who in the world could have put those two together and make them work out as allies? Before he could continue on, Cody thoughts brought him straight into Zack's back, making him slam into his twin and having Bailey slam right in back of him, causing both of them to fall onto the ground.

"Zack! What was that for?" Cody wondered why his twin had stopped running.

"Ouch! Cody, I love you and all, but get off of me!" Bailey shouted as she pushed her boyfriend off as he was crushing her stomach.

"Sorry sweetie," Cody said as he held out his hand to help Bailey up.

"Aww…Codykins, you never did that for me," said a voice that Cody had hoped he was imagining.

"Yeah, since when did you become such a Casanova? Hey beautiful, why don't you ditch egghead there and come get yourself a real man," said a male's voice whom both Zack and Cody could only glare at as the three of them saw who was blocking their path. Today seemed to definitely be a day of unwanted reunions the twins thought because standing in their way were none other than Drew and Agnes. Drew currently was holding a pair of brass knuckles and in a martial arts stance, waiting for the chance to strike. Agnes on the other hand was holding a pair of sai and stood straight with both weapons down on her sides.

"I don't think handguns would be such a fair fight," Drew commented as he threw a boomerrang towards the trio with great accuracy, hitting their hands and causing them to drop their handguns. Before any one of them could pick up the handguns, Agnes threw a gernade right in front of the trio, causing them to jump out of the way as it explodes, causing the foundation to shake and the handguns to be destroyed. With the trio distracted by the explosion, Drew and Agnes then went on the offensive, taking advantage of the opening for them to attack. Before they could get to the trio though, Zack and Cody were quick enough to draw out their tazers and zapped their opponents, causing them to stop and seize on the ground for a few seconds, buying themselves some time.

As the twins were using the tasers, Bailey went towards Cody's bag and arming herself with a pair of nun chucks, knowing that she had practiced using those weapons before. She also handed Cody a pair of brass knuckles, hoping that he would make Drew was going to be receiving pain instead of giving it. Zack looked intently at Bailey, waiting for his pair of weapons, but Bailey gave him none. Cody looked at his twin's surprise face and explained Bailey's actions, knowing exactly what she was thinking.

"Zack, Bailey and I will handle things here. You go on ahead and find London. We'll catch up to you as soon as we are done with these two," Cody told his twin as he stood ready with his girlfriend to duel the pair that was slowing getting up, almost recovering from the shock of the tasers.

"But…" Zack started to say, before Bailey injected.

"But nothing Zack. You are our best bet in finding London, so go once you see an opening. Plus, I have a bone to pick with Ms. Frizzle here. No one calls my boyfriend "Codykins" in front of me and gets away with it," Bailey said in anger as she glared at Agnes.

"Also, no one should be able to flirt with my girlfriend and expects me not to do anything about it," Cody stated as he got into a stance, aiming straight for Drew.

"Come on egghead. Show me what a couple of years out at sea did for a scrawny nerd like yourself," Drew taunted.

"You tell him Drew. Oh, as for you Ms. Country slut, I will call Cody anything I want. What does he see in you anyways? I'm much better looking than you'll ever be," Agnes sneered.

"That's it!" Bailey shouted as she rushed Agnes, using one of the nun chucks as an extension of her arms and promptly swung it straight at Agnes' face, which made a direct hit as the initial rush shocked Agnes enough not to move. As that was going on, Drew took the opportunity to start his attack on Cody, but luckily Cody wasn't distracted by Bailey's ferocious first strike that he was able to duck Drew's first strike and countered it with an uppercut straight into Drew's abdomen with his right fist, pouring into it all the anger he felt from Agnes calling his girlfriend a slut. As the two pairs continue on their fight, Zack quickly ran past them and on towards London. He can only hope that his little brother and his "sister" were going to be okay.

**London's Cell (Half an hour before the second encounter)**

As London stood over the two guards that were left to look after her, she shook her head at how easily these two were disposed of. Although she had been putting on the crying act for a few hours now, these pair of guards actually had some sympathy for her and had tried to loosen her binds a little bit. That was their ultimate mistake as London had taken the opportunity to use her hands and brought both guards down with only two tae kwon do moves. Good thing her daddy had insisted on self-defense classes. She knew that for now, she had to escape and find the others, but fear going down the same path as Drew and Agnes had done half an hour earlier. Luckily, the villains, especially the mastermind behind all of this, did not know of the secret passageways that were only privy to the Tiptons and their most trusted advisors. As she found the switch, she quickly duck into the secret passageway and started her journey down towards her friends.

**Mansion Corridors (Present time)**

As Zack continue to run, he thought he felt London's presence moved and going back towards the direction that Cody and Bailey were in. He shook it off as just his heart calling him to go back and help his friends, but he knew he couldn't. He wouldn't waste their sacrifice and he sure as hell wasn't going to give up on finding London. He finally go to the room where he thought they were holding London and opened the metal door to go inside. As Zack scanned around the huge chamber, he saw something that made his stomach turn. London wasn't here and it seemed as if she escaped. That would have been a huge relief off of Zack's shoulders except he saw the person, or should he say people, who took her place.

Bounded against the wall were eight people he cared about as much as the four he left behind and the one he was searching for. His mom, dad, Maddie, Ms. Tutweiller, Addison, Woody, Corrie, and Mary-Margaret were all tied up and gagged as they were hanging on chains against the wall and a foot off the ground. In front of them stood a figure, one that Zack recognized in his younger days. He couldn't believe who was behind the whole plot. Yet, if Zack was honest with himself, the person did have the necessary funds to plan such an evil plot. The one thing Zack couldn't understand was the motivation of it all. What did the person had to gain from all of this? Before he could think any further, the figure sensed Zack's presence in the room and turned around, revealing himself.

"Hello Zack, I'm glad you are finally able to join us," Theo said with a devilish smile.

* * *

**Ok, so who saw Theo being the mastermind of the entire thing? **


	8. A Small Victory

**Author's Note: Now that the twins and their friends have found their way inside the Tipton Mansion on Parrot Island, what will they find?**

**Snapplelinz**

**Chapter 8: A Small Victory**

**Parrot Island – London's Cell**

Zack couldn't believe what he was seeing in front of him. Not only were most of his friends and family tied up and chained to the walls in what looked like the cell where London's kidnappers had been holding her for days. But now he stood facing Theo Cavanaugh, a snobby and rich kid who had been a complete jerk to both him and Cody a lifetime ago. What was he doing here? And how was he connected to London's kidnapping?

"Well, well. If it isn't Zachary Martin, come to save the day." Theo greeted with a cynical smile on his face.

"Zack, thank God! Are you okay? Where's your brother?" Carey asked in bewilderment.

"Mom? Dad? Maddie? How did you all get here? What the hell is going on?" Zack demanded angrily of Theo, who watched him intently.

"I could ask you the same question, Martin. No one was supposed to find London until her kidnappers' demands was met." Theo stated in a low voice.

"So I guess that makes you one of them, huh? You're stinking rich, Cavanaugh! What could you possibly gain from helping London's kidnappers?" Zack roared furiously.

"Maybe, I'm not in it for the money." Theo responded cryptically.

"Quit fooling around and tell me what I want to know. Where is London, Theo?" Zack questioned impatiently.

"Well, it appears that she's already escaped her cell, so I guess you're too late to save her. But don't worry, you might still get another crack at it, once the Mastermind's minions find London and bring her back." Theo explained evilly.

"The Mastermind? Is that who's behind all of this?" Zack asked in wonder.

"Yes it is, Zack! And I have proof!" Woody informed him abruptly.

"Proof? How?" Zack questioned dumbly.

"My iPod Nano that went missing; it got all this footage from London's party that showed London's kidnappers drugging her and taking her off the ship. She's behind it, Zack! We saw the ring on her hand when she grabbed London-"

"Say one more word, and you're as good as dead." Theo warned, producing a tiny silver pistol from his jacket pocket and pointing it at Woody's head.

"Whoa," Kurt murmured slowly, his eyes dilated in fear.

"Leave him alone!" Addison screeched angrily, trying desperately to free herself from her confines.

"Theo, you don't wanna do that. I'm just here to find London to bring her and the people I love home safely. Just let them go." Zack pleaded anxiously.

"Sorry, Zack, but I can't do that. I can't just let you go; there's far too much at stake. So…since we're going to be spending plenty of quality time together, why don't we have a heart-to-heart?" Theo asked evenly.

Maddie and all the other women in the vicinity screamed and gasped loudly when Theo moved towards Zack with the speed of a jungle cat and pointed to the gun to his head instead.

"You first. Who else of your little friends is snooping around Parrot Island and this mansion?" Theo demanded ominously, clicking the cartridge into place with a loud snap.

**The Mansion Basement**

The sounds of bullets ricocheting off every inch of wall and marble was deafening in Marcus and Marion's ears as they tried desperately to stay hidden. The Mastermind's five goons lay dead on the floor while Marcus, Marion, Ilsa and Spencer hid behind the corners of the tiny hallway while engaging in an old fashioned gun battle.

"Curse you for being such a good shot, Spencer!" Marion called out angrily.

"Just another thing that I'm better at than you, baby bro!" Spencer shouted back, aiming yet another shot which missed Marion's head by inches.

"Vat are you doing? Are ve going to play chit-chat all night or are ve going to keel your annoying brudder?" Ilsa scolded reproachfully while ducking behind the corner.

"Patience, mein Liebling. I'm goading Marion into leaving his hiding place slowly so that we can capture him and his friend. And then we'll kill him." Spencer promised slyly while reloading the cartridge in his gun with more bullets.

"As much fun as it is to watch sibling rivalry on a whole new level of crazy, do we have a plan here?" Marcus demanded shortly of Marion as he scoped out the surrounding area.

"You tell me. You're the one who shot 3 of those 5 miscreants back there." Marion teased back lightly.

"I'm serious, Mr. Moseby." Marcus complained loudly.

"Relax, Marcus. I know exactly what I'm doing. Spencer can't resist putting me down at every turn. All we need to do is bluff him into coming out of his hiding place so that he can gloat, thinking that he's won the battle." Marion explained calmly.

"And how exactly do we do that?" Marcus questioned wearily.

"See that piece of plaster sticking out of the ceiling above Spencer and Ilsa?"

"Yeah?"

"My guess is that it's pretty old and decaying because of some dry rot that hasn't been attended to in recent years. In about a minute, I'm going to jump out of my hiding place; hopefully both Spencer and Ilsa will jump out too. That'll be your cue to shoot at that piece of plaster, which will hopefully take those two out of the equation."

"Mr. Moseby, have you flipped your noodle? That is the dumbest plan I've ever heard! Not only could we lose this gun fight, but you could end up getting killed for nothing!" Marcus scolded angrily.

"I'm willing to take that chance. If anything happens to me, don't stick around, Marcus. Find Cody, Bailey and Zack and try to find London together, then get out of here right away." Marion commanded gently.

"But Mr. Moseby-"

"Marcus! Just once, do as I say. This may be our only chance." Marion interjected sternly.

"Yes, sir." Marcus agreed grimly.

"Very well. I'll jump out and get into their line of sight once more. Now, when I say 'Mom likes you better after all', that'll be your cue to shoot at the ceiling. Understand?"

"Uh-huh."

"Good. Get ready. And…oh no! I'm all out of bullets. Marcus, it's time to surrender. They have us exactly where they want us!" Marion wailed dramatically and scrambled to his feet.

Ilsa and Spencer exited their hiding place and came to stand in front of Marion, standing directly below the rotting plaster and pointing their guns gleefully at his chest.

"Ah ha! There, didn't I tell you, Ilsa? I knew my brother would come crawling out of his hole like a rat ready to drown." Spencer announced maliciously.

"Don't shoot, big brother! Not yet, not until I've had my chance to say one last thing to you."

"Oh really? And vat iz dat, Moseby?" Ilsa demanded with relish.

"Only that…you were right about me, Spencer. You are smarter, handsomer, stronger, richer, and more accomplished than I'll ever be. I'm about to die a penniless hotel manager at your hands. Mom likes you better after all." Marion concluded morosely, adding a few tears to his theatrical monologue.

Marcus clicked the cartridge on his gun into place and pulled back the trigger with determination. The bullet exited the gun with potent clarity, cutting through the barriers of sound and time as it flew towards the ceiling. It had the desired effect that Marion had been hoping for as thick clumps of rotting plaster blasted away from the ceiling, rocketing all around Ilsa and Spencer who covered their heads blindly, burying them in an avalanche of plaster and mould in a matter of seconds. Marcus and Marion gaped in astonishment in the thick dust cloud which gathered all around them, the air thick with an eerie silence.

**The Mansion Corridor (A Minute Prior)**

While Marcus and Marion dealt with Ilsa and Spencer, Cody and Bailey took on Drew and Agnes with simpler weapons at their disposal. The four of them were circling each like birds of prey, intent on leaving no survivors in their midst.

"I knew it, you can't fight for shit! Face facts, Cody. You're just 100 pounds of weak-ass nerd, just like I thought all along!" Drew taunted menacingly as he circled around Cody with his upraised fists.

"That's funny, I could say the same thing about you, considering that I just punched you out no less than six times." Cody retorted back with a malicious grin on his face.

"You tell him, Cody-kins." Bailey praised, knowing she'd get a rise out of Agnes for using her nemesis' nickname on her boyfriend.

It did the trick as Agnes flared up instantly.

"You take that back, Ms. Country Slut! Or I'll make you." Agnes warned threateningly.

"Give it your best shot, Weird Al. I don't have all day." Bailey sneered devilishly.

"Agnes, what the hell are you doing?" Drew scolded angrily as Agnes made a beeline for Bailey, a stream of curse words escaping her mouth.

Bailey, who was fully expecting this offensive strike from Agnes, simply stuck out her foot and watched as Agnes collided over her legs and shot through the air, landing on her head in comical fashion. While Drew was sufficiently distracted, Cody aimed yet another well-placed punch to his abdomen, winding Drew sufficiently. While Drew moaned and groaned in pain, Cody ran behind him, pulled his arm behind his back in a vice-like grip and spun him in midair, watching with satisfaction as Drew fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. Bailey quickly ran to the opposite end of the dimly lit hallway and retrieved Drew and Agnes' guns and grenades.

"Nice work, honey." Cody congratulated sincerely when Bailey came to stand next to him once more.

"Thanks. You weren't too bad yourself." Bailey returned, matching his tone.

Before they could congratulate themselves further, they heard a strange rumbling noise below them. With wide eyes, both Cody and Bailey glanced down at their feet and watched in horror as part of the wooden floor began cracking and crumbling beneath them.

"Look out!" Cody warned, grabbing Bailey's arm just in time as she narrowly missed plummeting through the gaping hole in the floor which had suddenly emerged.

The tremor from the basement below had caused part of the plaster and cement on the walls surrounding them to come apart. Drew and Agnes, who had risen to their feet once more, were too late in scrambling safety as bits of plaster and bricks fell all around them, knocking them both unconscious.

"What happened?" Bailey questioned blankly while staring at the damage in awe.

"Marcus! Mr. Moseby! Are you okay?" Cody called out frantically while bending over the hole.

To their relief, they heard a series of coughs and murmurs.

"We're okay. I shot at the plaster on the ceiling, which landed on top of Ilsa and Spencer." Marcus called out hoarsely, standing just below the gaping hole.

"We felt the tremors up here. Agnes and Drew got buried in rubble too." Bailey called back loudly.

"Part of the wall caved down here. We're gonna try and dig our way out." Marcus stated quickly.

"We'll help you out." Cody suggested.

"No you won't. It's up to the two of you to go find Zack and London. Marcus and I will be okay." Marion advised firmly.

"We can't just leave you down there!" Bailey shot back frantically.

"Bailey, it's okay. You and Cody go ahead. Mr. Moseby and I will be fine." Marcus replied reassuringly.

Cody got a brainwave and asked Bailey for the grenades in her hands.

"We got some grenades off of Agnes a minute ago. I'll throw them down to you; maybe you can try and blast your way out. But try just one; one more might cause the whole room to cave in." Cody suggested tersely.

Marcus caught the grenades deftly in his hands and tossed them to Marion.

"Thanks. Be careful," Marion warned seriously.

"You too. We'll be back in a few minutes to come find you." Bailey promised readily.

Then she took Cody's hand and the two of them manoeuvred carefully along the wooden floor past the hole to avoid falling down. They passed Agnes and Drew's unconscious bodies and made their way down the rest of the hallway in the direction they saw Zack run in just minutes before.

**London's Cell (Two Minutes Prior)**

"Theo, think about what you're about to do," Emma chided in what she hoped was a calming voice.

"Theo, don't do something stupid," Maddie pleaded, the tears rolling steadily down her face.

Zack didn't flinch once as the seconds passed by relentlessly, the cool metal of the gun still pressing into his forehead. But Theo was still staring at him, a calculating look in his eye.

"Relax, Maddie. Theo's not gonna do anything. He doesn't have the guts." Zack jeered, even though his heart was hammering loudly in his chest.

"Don't antagonise him, Zack!" Carey and Kurt remonstrated fiercely, the fear of watching their son die right in front of them at the forefront of their minds.

"You think so, Zack? You think I don't have the guts to pull the trigger? I'm giving you an opportunity to come clean with me. Who else is here on the Island with you?" Theo pressed coolly.

"I ain't telling you jack." Zack responded frankly.

"Have it your own way. Maybe one of your friends in here would like to tell me what I wanna know. Or maybe I'll just shoot each one of them in turn until you crack. But why stop there? There's always London Tipton; she could be joining you any second now. I guess I could have a little fun of my own with her." Theo taunted mercilessly.

"If you touch a hair on her head, I'll-"

"You'll what, Zack? I'm the one holding the gun here. Oh, I get it. You like London, don't ya? Aw, that's precious. It must be killing you not knowing where she is, knowing that there's nothing you can do to save her." Theo whispered ominously in Zack's ear.

"That's where you're wrong, Theo. I will find her and bring her home safely." Zack promised steadily.

"Well, feel free to prove me wrong. Why don't you just try to take the gun off of me then?" Theo challenged malevolently, allowing the gun to dangle precariously from three of his fingers, as if to drop it to the floor.

As if in answer to his question, the ground began rumbling gently under their feet. Emma glanced downwards and gaped at the wooden floor, which was threatening to break apart with calculated force. Part of the ceiling gave away, bits of plaster breaking away and landing at Theo's feet. Zack used this opportunity to leap at Theo as he desperately tried to wrestle the gun out of his hands.

"Zack, look out!" Mary-Margaret exclaimed in horror.

Theo punched Zack hard in the nose, causing him to stagger backwards. Zack got his own back by sticking out his leg and kicking Theo sharply in the back of his shins, causing him to topple over onto his back while smacking his head against the wooden floor. The gun inevitably slipped out of Theo's hand and slid across the floor towards Corrie's feet. She did her best to kick the gun out of the way, considering that her feet were tied tightly together with metal shackles, causing the gun to accidentally skid back towards Theo while he lay on the floor. Zack backed off instantly when Theo got to his feet, grasping the gun tightly in his hand, a maniacal gleam in his eye.

"Theo, take it easy, man." Zack chided soothingly, blood pouring from his nose and spilling onto the floor.

"Shut up. I'm done playing games with you, Zack Martin. You'd better say goodbye to everyone you love in this room fast. It'll be the last thing you ever do." Theo ordered fiercely, squeezing the trigger on the gun with every intention of firing the next round of bullets.

Zack closed his eyes, knowing that certain pain was coming which he had no way of escaping. He clenched his jaw as the sound of the bullet leaving the barrel of the gun filled the air. The hostages looked on in awe as the bullet entered the shoulder of its young victim. Zack fully expected pain to erupt through his body while death overtook him, but he felt nothing but a sense of fear which continued to consume him.

"Zack, are you okay?" he heard the familiar voice of Cody, say.

Zack opened his eyes slowly and saw his twin brother standing in the doorway, pointing a slightly smoking gun at Theo.

"Yeah," Zack said softly, noticing a pool of blood forming on the floor caused by the wound in Theo's shoulder.

"It's over, Theo." Cody declared firmly, keeping a steady grip on the gun all the while.

"Cody!" Kurt screamed out in relief.

Bailey stood behind Cody, shivering ever so slightly at what her boyfriend had just done.

"Ms. Tutweiller? Addison? What's going on? How did you all get here?" Bailey asked in alarm, making a beeline towards the rest of London's kidnappers' victims.

"We were abducted from the S.S. Tipton too. Woody's iPod identified London's kidnappers." Corrie explained slowly.

"What?" Zack and Cody asked in alarm.

"Where's Marcus and Mr. Moseby?" Zack asked of his twin brother.

"They got trapped downstairs in the basement when part of the ceiling collapsed. The good news is that they put Ilsa and Spencer out of action. Bailey and I took care of Agnes and Drew." Cody explained quickly.

"Agnes and Drew? They're here too?" Maddie asked in astonishment.

"Where's London, Zack?" Bailey demanded worriedly.

"Gone. It looks like she overpowered the guards and escaped before they brought everyone else here." Zack responded with a sinking feeling in his chest.

The three of them managed to untie everyone else. With a sudden surge of fury, Cody moved towards Theo and pulled him roughly to his feet, being sure to deliberately grab his wounded shoulder, causing him to yell in pain.

"Since you like questions so much, I have a few for you. What the hell are you doing here, Theo? Where's London?" Cody hissed menacingly, gripping Theo tightly by the collar.

Theo began laughing mirthlessly in spite of the excruciating pain in his shoulder.

"You're not getting her back. She signed her death certificate the second she escaped from this place." Theo whispered evilly while laughing uproariously.

Cody got ready to lay hands on Theo when Zack intervened.

"Allow me," he remonstrated right before winding up his arm and punching Theo square in the jaw.

Then Zack used both hands to hoist Theo up till the tips of his toes were scraping against the wooden floor.

"Start talking." He commanded roughly.

**The Tipton Mansion**

London was scrambling awkwardly amongst the rubble, her breath ragged and hoarse in her throat. She wanted to squeal in protest at the amount of dirt collecting underneath her French manicure; but she was too afraid to open her mouth in case anyone heard her overhead. Technically, she wasn't supposed to even know about this place; Daddy had always been good at his secrets. Now London knew without a doubt that they were indeed related. They both knew how to protect their interests and they had that innate instinct for survival. And right now, the latter was the only thing that would ensure that she got through this nightmare alive. In the midst of her troubling thoughts, her mind drifted towards Zack.

"Oh, Zack. If you were me right now, what would you do?" she asked to no one in particular.

A wry smile crept onto her face as she imagined his mischievous grin while he conjured up a sneaky plan. The thought cheered her momentarily and gave her renewed courage to keep going while she picked her way through the cold and damp sand.

**Author's Note: With half of the mansion crumbling down around them, how will the twins locate London? And how does Theo fit into the Mastermind's insidious plan? Join us again next time for another instalment of 'A Sinister Plan'.**


	9. Fighting Your Fears

**AN: Sorry we couldn't get this up fast, we had some problems with school and we had to get the penguins on our side to do something about it. :P**

**As always, we do not own anything Suite Life Related  
**

* * *

**Fighting Your Fears**

**by Wyntirsno & WoundedHearts  
**

As each captive was released off the walls it was decided that some of them should go check on Moseby and Marcus to see if they made it out ok. Bailey wanted to go in case they needed help to bring the fearsome foursome, as they were now called, back so they could put them in separate rooms. That way they could interrogate them when they were done with Theo. Bailey decided to bring Woody and Addison along in case there was any trouble.

Maddie then stepped in and suggested that they should check the rest of the mansion to see if London is hiding in one of the other rooms. Mary-Margaret and Corrie volunteered to go with her.

After the two groups had left, the boys continued their questioning and still Theo remained silent, refusing to divulge anything about the plot. Whether by fear or stubbornness he wasn't going to give in too easily, this was something that made the group very angry.

"Like I said, start talking," Zack screeched. "I'm done putting up with your shit."

Theo's cynical laugh could be heard throughout the chamber and Zack saw red. "What the hell is your problem, why are you doing this?" He asked, despite the fact that he knew he wouldn't get a direct answer.

"This is getting us nowhere," a frustrated Kurt walked up to the thug and pulled him up by his shirt collar. "Look you little brat, a lot of good people are getting hurt…"

"Hurt?" Anger flashed in Theo's eyes. "That little shit head of yours shot me, I'm the only one hurt in all this."

"That little shit head, as you call him was trying to protect his brother. The same person you were trying to kill."

"It's a shame I didn't get my chance," Theo smirked. "But that's alright, I can guarantee one thing, next time I won't miss."

Kurt couldn't stop himself from throwing the bastard across the room to everyone's astonishment. Everyone stood frozen for a minute as they watched Cody take a flying leap at Theo, who lay there wide-eyed and terrified. It took a while for Kurt and Zack to pull him off of the other teenager as Moseby, who arrived during the scuffle, dragged Theo out of the room with Bob's help.

"Zack throw me the keys," Moseby shouted as the teen obliged. "We're going to put this kid in another room until everyone calms down."

"Sounds like a plan." Kurt agreed sending him a warning glance.

"I think I will go with them." Emma stated shutting the door behind her as she followed them into the corridor.

* * *

Bob and Moseby dragged Theo down the long hallway as he struggled to get away from them. He made quite a scene kicking and screaming until they were physically in the room. Bob put his hands on Theo's shoulders while helping Moseby hold him down so Emma could tie his hands and feet to the chair.

As soon as he touched him he screamed. "Oops, I forgot about your gunshot wound." Bob grinned from behind the other boy as he lightened his grip.

The two adults in the room hid a smile as they continued with their tasks. Once they knew for sure that Theo was strapped tightly, they regrouped in a corner and began to brainstorm their options.

"I was a school counselor at one point, and as a teacher I think I know how the adolescent mind works a bit better then you do," she explained to a stubborn Moseby.

"Alright, ball is in your court," he sarcastically told her. "What do we do?"

"It's time to get this kid to crack," Emma told the others.

"How do you suggest we do that?" Moseby asked.

"Simple, let's make an omelet."

"Ooh… I like omelets," Bob grinned.

"Okay boys follow my lead."

Emma sauntered over and placed a hand on the young boys shoulder. "You know Theo, may I call you Theo?" he just shrugged indicating that it was fine for her to do so.

"It amazes me to think that you would find yourself wrapped up in something like this. I mean it's not like you need the money. Why would you kidnap someone for ransom?" she asked.

"Why not?" He smirked.

"What?"

"What can I say, I'm intrigued," He noticed the confused look on their faces and smiled.

"Intrigued?" Emma voiced. "By kidnapping?"

"No… murder."

* * *

Maddie, Corrie and Mary-Margaret were currently walking down the corridor searching the rooms for any sign of had always been a big part of their little clique and although at times they'd found her a bit self absorbed, they always considered her like a sibling. When the chips were down London was always there, and they were determined to return the favor.

During their search, they came upon a pair of French doors leading into what appeared to be some kind of study. When they opened the doors it was clear the room was in shambles. Papers tossed around, books left open and a monitor left on. A glint of silver caught Maddie's attention from under the desk, so she bent over to see what it was. Lying on the floor was a plaque saying Wilfred Tipton etched on the surface. Either someone was looking for something specific or the fearsome foursome used this room as their headquarters.

"What a mess," Corrie stated as she wandered over to an object sitting on a shelf nearby. "Ooooo fun," she stated transfixed by the odd-looking miniature structure.

"It's called a Newton's cradle," Maddie said. "And if you pull back on one of the balls they will ricochet sending the one on the other end in the opposite direction."

Corrie reached out and did as her friend had instructed, and to her amazement it did what she said it would. Instantly the girl was enthralled in the mystery of it all, as she began to play with it as a child would with its toy.

"Anyway, this is more than a mess," Mary-Margaret replied rolling her eyes and then looking around the room at its disheveled state. "They must have been searching for something rather important."

"True, especially since they decided to kidnap London over it."

"What do you think we should do?" she asked the tall blond haired girl.

"I think we should figure out what they were looking for."

* * *

Kurt and Zack kept a tight grip onto Cody's arms until they could no longer hear Theo's screams echoing down the hallway. They finally released him when they felt the tension leave his body. When they let go he slumped down in a chair, placed his face in his hands and began to cry. Carey kneeled down in front of him and gently took a hold of his hands pulling them away from his face so she could gaze into the lost look in his eyes.

"Are you ok baby?" She asked noticing he was shaking.

"It's not fair, I can't let him do it."

"Do what?"

"I can't let him hurt Zack. I just can't lose him."

Zack had been standing nearby with his father, and when he heard Cody's fears he was instantly at his side. He leaned down and cradled Cody in his arms and let him cry on his shoulder.

Carey stood up, grasped Kurt's hand and took him to the other side of the room so they could talk in private.

"We need to find a way to get the boys off of the island." Carey told her ex.

"I agree one hundred percent, but how do we convince them to leave."

As Cody continued to quietly cry on his shoulder Zack overheard his parent's conversation. "That's not going to happen, I'm not leaving here without London."

Cody lifts his head. "And I'm not leaving without Zack."

"Ok," commented their father. "If finding London is the only way to get you two off the island, then lets go find her."

Zack nodded then glanced back at Cody as he was wiping his tears away. "You okay?"

"I'll be fine as soon as you make me a promise."

"Okay," the older twin told him.

"You don't leave my side."

"I promise," he stated giving him a brotherly peck on the forehead.

Cody smiled in return and gave his twin a hug to solidify their promise.

The warm family moment was interrupted when the door opened and in walked Marcus, Woody, Bailey and Addison. Bailey noticing her boyfriends tear streaked face, immediately ran over to him to make sure he was okay. She was relieved when he verified that he was.

"So what is going on with the fearsome foursome?" Zack asked the small group.

"We managed to lock them each up in separate rooms so that we can interrogate them later," Marcus answered.

"What about the windows?" Carey asked.

"We tied them up," Addison stated. "Trust me they are not going anywhere."

"Where's Theo?" Woody asked as he looked around for the main culprit.

"Moseby, Emma and Bob are working their magic on him, to get him to talk."

The small group smiled exchanging confident looks that they could indeed make that happen.

* * *

Every one stood in stunned silence, not able to believe what they had just heard. Was this kid really implying that he was willing to kill another human being for some weird kick, or a morbid fascination? This was not the Theo that Moseby knew in Boston. That boy although troubled would never play with human lives' this way.

The smile still etched on his features gave the older man a chill. It was a sinister smile reserved for criminals and it no longer seemed human. The person sitting in front of them seemed at best detached from the world around him, as if he was somehow stripped of his soul and was now walking around void of all emotion.

He reminded Moseby of a robot being forced to bow down to the programmers will. As if this young kid had somehow been brainwashed to think and act a certain way. If that were true than he had no control over what he had done to London.

Instantly his mind went back to a process Mr. Tipton had told him about, a process in which chips were embedded into human beings. A chip that would help keep mankind in line, he had described it. What if something like this was controlling these people?

It did seem strange that all the people they had encountered so far were one's they'd known at one point or another in their lives. Yet, none of them had anything in common with the others beyond the twins and himself. But then that doesn't explain why London had been taken.

"How could you be so cold?" Emma asked stunned. "Don't you have any regard for human life?"

"They should lock you up and throw away the key." Bob added.

"I do hold human life in high regard," He devilishly grinned. "If it's my own life we're talking about."

"This is not a joke, young man." The older woman lectured. "You do realize how much trouble your in don't you?" Emma added asking the arrogant teen.

As Emma continued her tirade, Marion studied Theo's reactions to what she was saying. He just couldn't shake the feeling that this was not the same person he knew. Therefore he could not shake the feeling that this boy was somehow conditioned to act and say anything he had to, to deter their steps.

"Alright, young man," Moseby stepped in. "Why London?"

"Why not, London"

"Don't give me that crap," he half shouted. "What is so important about London that you would want to kill her? Let's be honest here, we've already determined it's not the money; you could buy the island of Manhattan ten times over. So what is your game?"

"Look pops, you really want to know what is going on here, than I'm the wrong person to ask."

"Then who is the right person to ask?" Theo smirked back at him. "I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"I mean…that I'm not exactly at the top of the chain here," he scowled making it obvious that he resented that fact. "So I don't know who is in charge, but even if I did, do you really think I'd tell you. I'd be dead in a heartbeat if they knew."

"Who knew?" Bob chimed in, enthralled in what Theo was saying.

"I thought we had just gone over this…carrot top?" he added with a grin.

Bob's face turned red and he bit his lip to try and control his anger knowing that Theo was just trying to bait him. Exchanging a look with Emma and Marion, he knew they had to rethink their line of questioning or they would never get anywhere with him.

Bob pulled up a chair and sat down in front of him so they were eye to eye. It was apparent to the other two occupants in the room that there was no love lost between the two. As they stared one another down, their feelings of anger and resentment could be carved with a knife. Making the air in the room thick with emotion and slightly suffocating to the four people within the small space.

"You know it seems funny to me, that you being such a big shot, would let these punks crap all over you," Bob smirked getting a slight rise from the boy in the chair across from him. "I mean if it were me, I'd be a little pissed."

"No one craps all over me," Theo answered through clenched teeth. "I'm my own man and I have the power to do anything I want, including beating the shit out of you."

Bob started laughing making Theo angrier with each chuckle.

"What the hell is so funny?"

"You know you remind of someone I know?" Bob dug into his pocket and pulled out his wallet as Theo waited. "You know obedient, takes scraps, waits for his masters commend, and eats his own shit. Wanna see a picture?"

Bob let the plastic holder unfold showing the many pictures of his small Chihuahua. Bob could see a hint of anger flash in Theo's eyes, which gave him the perfect incentive to continue. Pointing to several snapshots he described the scenes in them, until he came to his favorite.

"You see like dogs you are easily influenced into doing tricks and begging for more attention from your master." Bob grinned. "Take my dog for instance; Goliath would do almost anything for me just for a pat on the head or a milk bone now and then. It must be so humiliating to have to do what you are told all the time, tell me." He said showing a picture of his dog with his tail wrapped in red ribbon and a big bow on it for Christmas. "Have they put a bow in your hair yet?"

Without warning Theo spit in Bob's face, a look of malice etched in his features and he suddenly strained against his ropes. To everyone's surprise Bob didn't flinch or move an itch as he heard Marion and Emma squeal from behind his enemy.

Bob didn't blink as he continued to take in the scene, as Theo began to shout every known curse at him. He then calmly wiped his face and flicked the gooey liquid back at its owner, making the young boy fight like a caged animal in order to get to him. Bob simply yawned rolling his eyes and waited for his hotheaded nemesis to cool down.

"You must really hate me," he smiled. "I bet you really want to get a hold of me."

Theo just answered him by clenching his fists and growling.

"I don't blame you, if I were in your position I'd want to exact a little revenge too. I mean being a patsy isn't exactly the funniest job in the world to have, and to be constantly reminded of it by someone like me, would kind of be a downer. So here is my proposition, I'll let these two people untie you so you can have a crack at me, and so I get the chance to have a little fun by rearranging your face, on behalf of my friends of course, and in the process you will give us a little information."

"What the fuck would make you think I would tell you anything?"

"Simple, you're just that stupid," Bob stated with an evil glare. "Also if you win we release you, and if I win, you have to tell us why this is happening, make sense?"

"What are you saying Bob?" Moseby asked. "We can't release him; remember what he said he would do to Zack."

"I'm hurt," Bob stated placing his hand over his heart. "I thought you would have more faith in me."

Bob placed a hand on Marion's shoulder and leaned in. "Give me five minutes with this guy, and I'll get him to cave." He smiled exaggeratingly nodding his head, in the hopes of convincing him to say yes.

"There is no way we are going to leave you in here alone with him," Emma insisted placing her hands on her hips. "This kid is dangerous."

"You know freckle freak I haven't even agreed to this in first place."

"So what's stopping you," Bob growled. "Do I scare you that easily? Although it wouldn't surprise me, you being the chicken shit you are."

"You wouldn't survive five minutes alone with me by the time they'd get you home your family would have to unzip the bag."

"I don't like this," Emma stated reinforcing her opinion. "This kid is dangerous and so very unpredictable. I don't want Bob getting hurt."

"Under the circumstances," Marion stated. "We really have no choice, because if this works then we'll be able to get London back a lot sooner."

"I know, but it doesn't sound like a safe beat to me, he's a child for goodness sakes."

"So is the kid sitting inside the room," Moseby replied. "Okay, how about this, I'll volunteer to use some of my scare tactics on him."

"You," they said simultaneously.

"I heard you were a workaholic that couldn't take a punch," Bob stated incredulously.

"Hurtful…" Moseby replied placing a hand to his chest as Bob did earlier.

"Okay let's do this!" Bob exclaimed as he was left in the room with Theo.

* * *

"Okay this is ridicules, we've been in here an hour and haven't found anything yet," Mary Margaret stated.

"Well, we knew it wouldn't be easy," Maddie replied. "They weren't going to leave anything lying around so it could be easily accessed."

As they continued their search they looked over toward Corrie who was still mesmerized by the Newton's cradle. In truth it was getting annoying and they wanted to throw the thing out the window, but they also knew that with her occupied, they would be able to work faster and hopefully find something incriminating soon.

They had already searched in the computer and looked through every file they could get their hands on. When suddenly Maddie noticed a printer underneath a stack of used printer paper, walking over she pulled the last page and ripped it at the perforation line.

"Girls, I think I've found the source of that noise that had us so baffled earlier," she laughed noticing that it was still printing. "Wow, look at this thing, it must be from like the ice age."

Mary Margaret walked over and began to help gather up the pages, when she suddenly froze. There in black and white, typed on the top page was their entire conversation from the moment they walked into the room. Investigating further she noticed a few more pages with conversations involving the rest of the group.

"Maddie look at this," she said tugging on her arm and pulling her closer so she could get a better look at the pages. "These are all the conversations that everyone has been involved in. It's like it's printing everything we say, including what I've just said."

The two girls were baffled as they skimmed the pages rolling out of the printer. This had to be some kind of joke, every pause, every exclamation, all there typed perfectly.

"You know, if this thing is printing our conversation then, wouldn't it be safe to say that it also printed other conversations that took place in this room?" Maddie asked. "Not only in this room, but the entire mansion, talk about document overkill."

"Those were my thoughts exactly," the other girl replied. "Okay this is what we do, take as much of this as possible, going back as far as possible, we need to show the others what we have found."

The girls jumped as a loud crash could be heard behind them. "I'm sorry I broke it." Corrie stated sadly, when they realized that she had toppled over the toy she was playing with.

"That's alright; we need to head back…"

"Oooo pretty," Corrie announced as she pulled out what appeared to be a file of some sort from underneath the object.

"What did you find Corrie?" Mary Margaret asked the mesmerized girl as she walked over to see what she had.

"Oh, Maddie look, she found several more files."

"And they're all different colors," Corrie remarked with a goofy smile.

"Okay grab those files and let's get out of here," Mary Margaret advised.

The girls did as she suggested and each ended up with a small stack of folders and papers cradled in their arms, as they made their way back toward the group.


	10. Shadows

Chapter 10 - Shadows

By Woundedhearts and Wyntirsno (Edited and revised by Tiger002)

* * *

"You know what I still don't understand?" Cody exclaimed. "How did London get out of an enclosed room? No windows, no other doors besides the one we walk in and out of. No escape routes whatsoever."

"She's not here so there has to be something we're missing," Zack stated expressing what everyone was thinking.

"Well she couldn't have just walked out of the room without anyone seeing her," Carey chimed in.

"You know what I keep thinking," Bailey added. "It would make sense for someone as powerful as Mr. Tipton to have some kind of an escape plan."

"Okay, that makes sense," Cody said, seeing where his girlfriend could be going with this.

"When I was researching old castles and mansions for a project, I stumbled across a series of secret rooms and passageways that were used in case of an enemy attack."

"Do you think there might be one here?" Cody replied, echoing her train of thought.

"I think it's a distinct possibility," Bailey replied. "I mean it would make sense to me, since there's no other way she could have gotten out without someone stopping her."

"Which means there has to be a way to open this sucker up," Marcus stated. "So let's do some investigating."

Everyone nodded and began to feel around the room including the walls, the table and the chairs that occupied it. After a few minutes of searching, they still came up empty.

"This is crazy," Woody implied. "Are you sure this theory of yours is correct?"

"Well we can't rule it out, and remember that this lever or button or whatever, is not going to be readily visible to anyone who doesn't know where it is." Cody explained. "So keep looking, make sure to tap on the walls and the floor boards. A lot of times people would hide things behind or under hollow sections."

"Well shouldn't Mr. Moseby know about any secret passages that the house would have?" Kurt asked the group.

"Let's go ask him," Cody suggested and the rest of the group agreed and the group then walked through the halls looking for the hotel manager.

* * *

"You really think you stand a chance against me?" Theo asked, wondering how this wimp could think he'd be able to win.

"Confident words from someone we just captured," Bob replied confident that being the captain of the high school wrestling team had prepared him for this. He rushed at Theo, not wanting to let his foe get the first strike. The red haired teen slammed his fist into Theo's chest sending him flying into the ground, however Theo got back up, sweeping Bob's feet out from under him in the process.

However, Bob easily recovered, and used his shoulder to ram Theo into the wall. The red head them easily blocked a punch before countering with a punch of his own into Theo's face.

"You ready to talk?" Bob asked, as Theo got back to his feet, much slower this time.

"It wouldn't matter if I tell you anything anyway; after she's done with you, none of you will be alive."

"Who?" Bob asked, but Theo responded with another punch. Once again, Bob blocked it before ramming his fist into Theo's face, sending him across the room. As Bob got ready for Theo's next attack, he was shocked to see his foe just fall to the ground. He waited for him to get up, but he just laid there.

He nervously walked over to his fallen enemy, not sure if it was just a ruse, or if he had really knocked his foe unconscious. He was sure that Theo would have a black eye after that attack, but had he really knocked him unconscious? He wouldn't put it past him to just be faking.

As Bob looked down at Theo from about 10 feet away, he noticed Theo wasn't breathing. He paused for a moment, checking to make sure his observation was correct. Once he was sure, he leaned down, and realized that Theo didn't have a pulse either.

He got up shocked what he had done.

He had actually killed Theo.

He didn't mean to.

He just wanted some information, and to wipe that cocky grin off his face.

Looking down at the corpse made him scream out in horror, causing Moseby a Tut rush into the room.

"What happened to him?" Moseby asked.

"H-he's dead," Bob said, his voice shaking, the weight of the words too much for him to bare. "I killed him."

Moseby knew something was terribly wrong here. He walked over to Theo's body, seeing if he could find out exactly what happened. One moment they heard the noise of the battle, and the next Theo was dead.

"Where did you last hit him?" Moseby asked.

"I punched him in the face," Bob answered as Tut tried reassuring him that this wasn't his fault.

Moseby looked at his face, seeing blood from the impact, but it wasn't anything severe. Even if the punch had been strong enough to kill him, it wouldn't have done it so quickly.

"I don't think it was the punch that killed him," the manager finally declared as he got up from the dead body, "I'm afraid that whoever is truly behind this wanted to make sure Theo didn't give any information away, so they found a way to kill him."

"How could they do that though?"

"I don't know," Moseby said solemnly as he gazed at the young victim of this evil.

* * *

"What happened in here?" Carey asked as her group that was searching for Moseby entered the room.

"Theo died during a fight with Bob," Moseby answered.

"Nice," Cody said, honestly glad to see Theo dead after what he had almost done to Zack. He had actually meant to aim for his head when he shot him, but his aim had been off.

"Were you able to get any information out of him?" Kurt asked.

"Well, someone else is behind this, but he died before he could say who it was," Bob answered, his guilt starting to subside.

"We had guessed the same thing before we were captured," Kurt said.

"Wait, my ipod had them on it!" Woody said, reaching through his pockets, trying to find it, but to no avail. "They must have taken it again," he said with a sigh of defeat.

"I guess we're back to square one," Cody said as they headed back into the other room.

However, before they could plan their next move, Maddie, Mary Margaret, and Corrie came running up behind them.

"We found something you might be interested in," Maddie advised while she and Mary Margret dropped the contents they were holding on the table.

"What did you find?" Bailey asked as they all stood around the table trying to get a peek at the papers as they scattered in front of them.

As little by little they began to read the various pages, they soon realized that they recognized some of the conversations they had shared. "How is this possible?" Zack asked the three, "Where did you find this stuff?"

"We found this in an old study that looked to be Mr. Tipton's. It looked to be ransacked and possibly used as a type of headquarters for the fearsome four," Mary Margret explained.

"And I found something too, but they wouldn't let me bring it," Corrie sadly stated hanging her head and pouting.

"What was it?" Addison asked curious.

"It was a ball hangie game and I was winning."

"A ball hangie game?" Addison asked and looked to the other girls for clarification.

"A Newton's Cradle," Maddie explained.

"Awww," they stated in union, understanding what she was now talking about.

"I like those too," Addison stated smiling at the other girl, "We should see if they sell any on the island."

"Okay then…um, let's get back to the fact that everything we are saying is being typed and probably read somewhere on the island," Bailey stated. "And while we are at it, let's try and find out by whom and for what purposes."

"Hey Bailey, do you, Marcus, or Moseby remember that ladies name that was murdered in the village?" Cody asked as he was reading.

"No why," Bailey asked as the other two shook their heads.

Cody finished looking thru the papers from the printer that the girls had just brought in. After a while he found what he was looking for, and tore off the page. Instantly they all crowded around to read its contents.

"This is what I was wondering about; could that be the same woman?" He asked them.

The papers showed a conversation that a woman had with herself when she was doing the filing for the criminals. She was scolding herself for having a job like she did and was thinking of taking the files she was handling to the police.

"If we can see this then so did the bad guys, that's probably why she was killed," Bailey stated the obvious. "Do you think she still had the files at her house?"

"Well what are we waiting for, let's go to that house and see if we can find what she took," Maddie said. "Who wants to come with me?"

"I will go help you Maddie." Corrie said.

"Ok I need more help, please." The tall blond girl pleaded.

After all was said and done the little group that decided to go search, was Maddie, Corrie, Mary Margaret, Marcus, Woody, Addison, and Bob. They all got ready and left the others to locate the entrance to the secret passage way.

As the group made their way outside they realized the skies had opened up and they had walked in to a very cold gloomy day. As the cold rain seeped through their clothes and the wind threatened to knock them off their feet. Off in the distance they could see dark thunderstorms approaching and knew they had to get to the house as soon as possible.

A few miles down the road they ran into a man that Woody recognized. "I know you, Mr. Simms isn't it? He asked the man.

"I remember you to you're a friend of London Tipton?" Simms inquired of the curly haired teen.

"You know London?" Marcus asked.

"Actually I do, why are you looking for her here?" Simms asked the teens. "Shouldn't you be looking for her at her mansion?"

"We just came from there," Bob asked suspiciously. "Why, do you know something?"

"Have you seen her?" Maddie asked him anxiously. "Where is she?"

"I haven't seen her for a few days now, why, is she gone?" Simms asked genuinely worried. "I need to get to the mansion."

"Why?" Several of the teens asked at once.

"I am supposed to be keeping an eye on her, making sure that they don't hurt her while she is captive." The older man explained. "Mr. Tipton will kill me if she is hurt somewhere."

"What do you mean?" Addison asked the man. "Are you a spy?"

"Well not really, but I guess you could look at it like that." Simms tried to explain. "I do work for the Tipton's, however, Mr. T. sent me to infiltrate the enemy and keep an eye out for his daughter. If she is gone then I need to find her."

"I'll go with you. Do you know anything about the mansion itself?" Bob asked him as they started to leave. "I'm hoping you can shed some light on a small mystery."

"Like what?"

"Like how someone would be able to escape from an enclosed room with no windows and only one door to access?"

"Do you know about the secret passageways and the tunnels that lie beneath the mansion?"

"No but I think we just found our guide," Bob smiled. "Is that alright?"

"Anything for London," Simms replied. "But we better get going it will be dark soon. And a lot of unsavory animals come out at night, and I'm not talking about the four legged kind either."

"Is that ok with you guys, I mean you can find the house just as well without me, right?"

"Yes, if he knows anything then he needs to be at the mansion, we will be alright." Mary Margaret told him. "If it gets dark we'll stay over at that house, and head back in the morning. It will also give us a chance to really search the place."

"Sounds good, okay then guys, be careful." Bob told them as they both headed back in the opposite direction.

* * *

The sky let go with an unearthly roar as the rain began to shower down in torrents. London had just kicked out a hidden board which had served to conceal the entrance to the secret tunnel she was in. Only to be faced with a wall of shrubbery and undergrowth just outside the small opening.

Sighing she pushed her way through the thickness and was immediately pelted by the relenting down pour of water falling from the sky. Cursing herself for not thinking of wearing something a little warmer for the party, she cautiously trudged onward, making sure not to bring any unneeded attention to herself. Not that it would have mattered seeing as she had surfaced in a rather remote area near the sea.

The thought of remembering to dress warmly struck her as odd, seeing as she couldn't have known she wouldn't end up back in her bed safe and sound at the end of the evening. But then the entire ordeal had been odd. Being taken off the ship and then forced onto a speedboat, blind folded. The water licking at her arms and face making her shiver, not only from the unknown fear, but from the cold, while her mind tried to reason the situation away.

When she had woken up on what she referred to as the speeding bullet, she was terrified. Her nerve endings, worked together to try and quench her morbid thoughts, as they strayed dangerously close to the breaking point. When her captors had dragged her through the brush up into the mansion and removed her blindfold she was so happy to be able to recognize her surroundings. In her mind that at least meant she had a chance.

She looked up to the staircase, and she glared at the three figures standing there. The menacing expressions on their faces only served to fuel her hatred toward them. Which in many ways gave her the strength to keep from breaking down in surprise at who she was seeing, and she was at least grateful for that.

"How dare you," she screamed. "When my father finds out what you've done, you will all pay."

To her surprise instead of the usual cowardice she was used to seeing, after such a threat was given, they began to laugh. She didn't understand at first but then figured they must not have heard what she'd said.

"Don't you understand, once my father has seen what you've done to me, he'll rip you apart."

Again they continued to laugh, and London found herself growing angrier by the minute. Suddenly the room got eerily quiet as they eyed her with contempt. The dark haired beauty almost wished she could hear their mocking laughter once more instead of this deafening silence.

Standing in the cold wind and rain, she now wondered which was the worst of the two evils. Gazing up at the sky and then out into the ocean, she knew this was working itself up to being a pretty mean tropical storm._Great, what else can go wrong?_ She thought to herself as she headed back into the cavern she had surfaced from.

"Well at least this is warmer then standing on a deserted beach in the middle of a rainstorm," she told herself.

Thinking about her days with the bumblebee troop, she tried to remember all the safety steps they had tried to instill in her. Number one priority was to try and keep warm. But under the circumstances she wasn't sure how that would happen. With the rain pouring outside and nothing to build a fire with, she was at a loss as to what to do next.

_Zack I need you!_

Zack looked around at the other occupants in the room, "who said that?"

"What are you talking about?" Kurt asked.

"Never mind," he replied shrugging it off as his imagination getting the better of him.

_Zack please help me!_

"Okay that was weird?" he asked. "This isn't funny."

"Zack no one has said anything," Cody told him taking in his confused state.

_It's cold, I need you._

Zack looked around the room again at the silent faces staring back at him. The room was still and he was able to hear clearly the next few words.

_I'm so scared, I want to go home._

"London?" Zack exclaimed making everyone stare in disbelief. "Can you hear me, its Zack?"

Zack closed his eyes trying his best to concentrate, but he heard nothing. Then out of the blue, he heard her soft whimpers. He called out to her trying his best to communicate. As he listened to her cries he could feel her tears pull at his heartstrings and a strong protective instinct took over, and the need to hold her overwhelmed him.

"Zack are you okay?"

Ignoring his brother for a minute he again strained to listen to any possible sounds he might hear.

"London if you can hear me," he stated. "Let me know that you are okay."

Suddenly she heard a voice in the back of her mind, which sounded surprisingly like Zack, and she had the feeling that she was watching herself through someone else's eyes. Putting herself in his shoes she let him guide her thru her next move.

"London, I know you're scared but you need to listen to me," the blond boy stated. "You have to stay calm."

_Zack, Zack I'm so cold._

"I know, but I need you to look around so that I can get a better picture of where you are."

The next thing he knew he was sitting cross-legged on the floor of some sort of cave, shivering and growing colder by the minute. He could hear the rain beating down just outside the entrance and he took into account the barren atmosphere. The moist environment didn't help him much but he knew he needed to find a way to get warm or he'd freeze to death and in turn she would as well and he'd lose her forever.

A deep ache began to form in the pit of his stomach and he realized she meant more to him than he'd ever realized. The thought struck him like a bulldozer and he found he'd rather liked the feeling. He needed to save her if only to keep her safe from further harm. And if he were being honest with himself he would have to say he mainly needed her beside him.

_Zack, I never knew._

"It's a surprise to me too," he stated out loud not realizing that the other people in the room were still looking to him in astonishment.

"London I need you to walk over toward the farthest corner away from the entrance to the cave," he asked. "Can you do that for me?"

_I think so…but my legs are shaky._

Zack walked over toward the corner with London's help and proceeded to pick up some branches and leaves that were spread around. He could feel the cold seeping in and he knew that her body temperature was beginning to fall. So whatever they did they needed to do quickly, otherwise he wouldn't lose her to her captors but to the elements around her. He would have to say goodbye and he wasn't ready to do that just yet.

_It's so dark in here and I think the battery is almost out on my flashlight. You need to click on the backup generator. Then come and find me…._

"London, what are you doing, stay with me."

_I'm so cold, and I'm so tired._

"I know baby, but I need you to stick with me," he stated. "London you're fading, you have to stay alert for this too work."

_I'm here, I'm here._

"We need to do this quickly incase I lose you," he insisted.

Placing his hands on the walls he searched the perimeter of the cave, in the hopes of finding something in order to raise her body heat. Half way thru the exploration she stubbed her toe making them both wince in pain. He looked down in order to see what she had bumped into and to his surprise he found a long metal box buried beneath some branches and leaves.

Separating it from its leafy cover he yanked the lid open to surmise what was inside. He was never so relieved when he saw the contents of the box. In it were another flashlight, a blanket, a gallon of water, some beef jerky and a couple of protein bars. When he looked further he found a lighter and a sterno fuel log.

Zack had no trouble setting up the campfire using the contents from the metal box. In no time the room was enveloped in a toasty warmth, as London buried herself within the blankets they had found. Just as the cold had done a few minutes before the warmth served to relax her as sleep took a hold. The connection faded just as the figure of a man entered the small cavern, leaving Zack with a feeling of dread and the realization that he hadn't asked her about a way into the tunnels.

Stunned back into reality, he almost collapses, but is saved from doing so by his father who helps him over to a nearby chair. The small group crowded around him, waiting for some kind of explanation as to what had just happened.

"Is she alright?" Cody asked his brother getting the jest of what had just occurred.

"I think we better hurry up and find a way into those tunnels," Zack told them while burying his face in his hands.

"I think I can help you with that."

Zack's head popped up when he heard that familiar voice, and instantly he was drawn back to the night of his first dream. He recognized it as the voice of the man who had tried to help London on the night she was captured.

"You, I know you."

"Of course you know him, he was the man who threw us in jail the first time we came to Parrot Island," Moseby stated.

"No, I mean I know that voice."

"Yes you do," Cody replied sarcastically. "Again…he's the man who threw us in jail when…"

"Cody stop being such a smartass," Zack winked at his little brother. "He's the man who tried to help London when she was first captured."

"How did you know that?" Simms questioned him.

"That's not important for now," he replied. "We need to find a way to get to London, I think she's in danger."

"What kind of danger," Carey asked concerned.

"I'll fill you in on what I know as soon as we get into those tunnels."

Bob placed a hand on the older man's shoulder and smiled. "I think I've found a way to get us in there." He beamed grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Mr. Simms strolled over to the far wall and placed his hand on a loose piece of paneling, he tapped in a secret sequence, until the opening was revealed to everyone.

"Awesome, lets go." Zack said impatiently.

"Wait son, we need to decide who is going. We need a few people to stay here until the authorities can come and pick up the fearsome foursome plus one." Kurt told his oldest son.

"Marion and I can stay here and watch over things." Emma volunteered.

"That would be alright with me," Moseby told the young man. "However, Zack I want you to take care of my London for me, at least until I can see that she is alright for myself."

"I will Mr. Moseby." He promised.

"And I will take care of both of them." Cody added seriously wrapping a comforting arm around his brother's shoulder.

Zack returned the gesture with a smile even though he was anxious to get going. He didn't want to worry anyone, but the sight of the strange man put him on edge and he was determined to make sure she was alright. He just prayed that they'd get there in time.

* * *

An: Wow again a fun experience collaborating on this chapter together. And a big thank you goes out to Tiger for editing and adding the fight scene between Bob and Theo. He really made Bob look great and I hope he continues to within the next few chapters! ;) (That was a hint people!)


	11. Past, Present, & Future

**Chapter 11 - Past, Present and Future**

**By Owlhero**

**Thanks to Wyntirsno for betaing this.**

The warmth was the first thing that London felt as she woke up. The shivering vanished as her eyes cleared.

"Awww…My back…" London stretched as far back as she could, forcing the stiffness to go away. She looked around as she rubbed her neck. The bed in her shared room on the SS Tipton would have been preferable to the damp ground she was laying on. Her bed in her suite at the Tipton Hotel in Boston with its thick mattresses would have been heaven.

The flames from the emergency kit lit the cave with a welcoming glow. Even so, the light revealed only barren rock. She looked left and remembered the emergency kit with its supplies.

The vision of a blond haired troublemaker appeared in her mindand her heart flittered as the discovery took hold, now that she was safe for the time being.

Her head whipped around as the ground moved to the sound of footsteps. A shadowy figure appeared just in sight, its identity unknown.

"Who are you? What do you want?" A strong voice echoed the cavern. It hid the fear crawling inside the young womanbut was strengthened by some unknown source.

Footstep afterfootstep, the figure moved forward, the heavy rain blending into the crunching of the sand and rock. The fire's glare revealed him….

"Daddy…" London Tipton stayed bolted to the floor, as she stared at the head of Tipton Industries, Inc.

"Londie, you're awake… good." The CEO moved completely into the light. He did not look like the head of a multibillion corporation. His usual perfect hair was dripping, sticking to his forehead. Several cuts marred his face. His ripped suit lost its former opulence, luster, and perfect tailoring as the water, sand and greenery caked his arms, and trousers. The scratched, and scuffed up black shoes completed the bizarre ensemble.

The heiress to the empire shook herselfbut confusion replaced her shock.

"Where's your security?" Tipton twitched at the question. Both remembered the security detachment, with its life sucking, protective "turtle", cutting off the head of Tipton Inc from the rest of the world, (and his various ex-wives).

But Tipton looked at the now young woman, who was his usual victim of the "turtle" and tried to talk to her. "They are not here."

London jumped all over him. "I can see that. I meant, what happened to them? I never see you without them. Alsowhat are YOU doing here? You never come to Parrot Island." Wilfred stared at the girl. The few cuts, bruises, and ragged clothes tarnished his memory of her. Not that he had a lot of memories of her… mostly just her voice over a cell phone driven by endless separation.

"I wanted to see how the progress of the island repair was…" Wilfred answered with a straight face, giving nothing away. But London looked at him with disbelief.

"You mean after you ripped the trees down? " Wilfred flinched at the venomous tone London launched at him. The absentee man tried to counterbut London continued her tirade, the hits mirroring wax burns.

"You only care about the company, and your money! Parrot Island has nothing to do with either of them, since I had to pay the money to help replant them." London's pause offered a respite.

Wilfred tried to take advantage of it. "Its wonderful to be involved in something you care about… I mean, usually all you talk about is fashion, or something related…"

London's barrage silenced Wilfred. "And whose fault is that? Yours? Mine?" London pushed her hair back behind her ears to clear it of her vision. The campfire heat blasted her face, but her face was already reddened from its own heat.

"When is the last time we had more than a five minute conversation on the phone? Or in person? Or how about, when did it not involve some meeting you were involved in, or when I got in trouble? Do you remember_, Daddy_?" The title was spoken not with warmth. Or love. Or even awe, or reverence. No it wasacidity, and enough bitterness to melt through steel.

Wilfred tried desperately to remember, but nothing, only conference calls, squeezed in meetings, and more meetings came to mind….

"The last time I can remember… you may have forgotten, but it was during my Sweet 16 party at the Tipton." Wilfred wilted at the answer, and the passage of time, but London was not finished. "But then you drove me crazy with exhaustion, because you..." London's chilling emphasis dimmed the light in the warm cave. "…you refused to be in the same hotel wing as mom!"

Wilfred's ex-wife brought discomfort to the surface, as London's echoes shook the cavern. The ringing in Wilfred's ears slowly dimmed as he regained his equilibrium.

In his life, he had never felt so terrible. Granted he was yelled at in the past for his decisions. It was mostly workers, who then lost their jobs. But he chalked it up to the cost of doing business. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose. It was nothing personal.

But here, there was no business. It was… different. It touched a part of him that existed, but fell into neglect. He kept tripping over himself, as he tried remembering how to solve his current crisis. It was so hard to remember how. He knew it was easy, he knew he had done it before. But he did not feel into it. He felt nervous, even scared. Insecure. It was a different type of timidity that could not be vanquished with a simple yes or no decision.

Yes this young woman exemplified this apprehension… Wait, no, she did not. He did. Wilfred Tipton, head of the multibillion-dollar Tipton Industries Inc. This young woman was the damaged product of his insecurities, his hesitation, his inexperience, and his business passions…

"You know..." London's voice kicked Wilfred out of his stupor. "…Moseby and Carey were the two people who looked out for me during the party." London stared at the person who gave her half of her DNA, and snorted as confusion simmered on his face.

"Carey is the lounge singer at the Boston Tipton. She has twin boys who are my friends…" The confusion evaporated as London looked on. She was thinking not of the man in front of her, but of the man who taught her how to drive, her ABDs, and comforted her every time this man, this almost practical stranger, let her down.

Wilfred Tipton looked at London, his daughter, and wanted to do something, say something to help, or at least not hurt anymore. But he did nothing. Not as the tears dripped down her face. He did not know how, and he decided to stay exactly where he was.

…

"These tunnels are tricky."

Cody glanced back quickly at his twin, as they followed Simms into the deepening tunnel, their flashlights beams swinging to and fro. They intersected the soft flickering glow from the haphazard string of lighting attached to the tunnel's walls. Shadows shrouded the three male forms, as their vision was devoid of details. Their voices provided the closest thing to radar, helping them know where each other was.

"Well its obvious they were built rather quickly, or made by the water surrounding island, Zack." Cody's confidence oozed clearlybut Zack emphasized his point.

"No what I meant to say is, I just hope London did not get hurt in here. I mean, I almost tripped twice as we entered this tunnel." Zack stopped dead as Cody turned to look at him, his eyes scanning him, as the shadows danced across his face. Simms paused in his movements, and the tunnel's noise level decreased to almost nothing.

You really love London, don't you?" Cody waited his brother out, as he tossed his flashlight in-between his hands.

"To be honest, I'm not completely sure. Not one hundred percent sure. The only other girl I've felt like this for was Maddie, and I'm not sure if it's the same. This is different with London… I think. Its so confusing…"

"Love always is, Zack."

Zack snorted at his brother's comeback.

"I hate to cut the conversation short but London may be in trouble…" Simms' words jumpstarted the twins' momentum. But the pair tried to stay even with each other as they moved, to continue talking, but they constantly had to turn their shoulders slightly to fit two-wide in the tunnel.

The light and shadow played tricks on Cody until he looked at his brother. He noticed a glimmer of a smirk showing in the gloom.

"What's so funny, Zack?"

Laughter escaped from the older brother. Simms turned his head around, confused, as Zack tried to get himself under control. "I just remembered the last time we were on this island. I mean we were looking for London then too. Except we were fighting over Bailey, remember?"

Cody shook his head as the memory took hold. "Yeah, especially the spitting contest. I can't believe I agreed to that. Talk about ridiculous."

"We were young, and stupid back then. We've grown up a little."

Simms scoffed, as he added his input to the conversation. "I hope so considering you two tried to break into the jail with a crowbar…"

Cody did not object. "Yeah, it was pretty stupid, especially when you think about Zack almost making me collapse into the ground, under his weight on my shoulders."

The brother fought back with a snort. "Excuse me, Skeleton boy… it's not my fault you spent all your time doing yoga, and not any time in the weight room." Zack then looked toward Simms. "To be honest, you did have our friends in jail."

Simms fumbled with the words. "Oh… that's right, I forgot about that. But things are different now. I am no longer the constable. With the parrots coming back, we are to going hire an actual cop to deal with the job. Let's hope you've both changed some, as I have. Especially with your troublemaking." The twins did not dare look at each other, and stayed quiet.

Zack leaned into Cody, and lowered his voice as Simms started forward again.

"You know, I hope he learned some new Pilates moves. I still have nightmares from the ones he demonstrated while we were in that jail cell….'Work from your core, Gertrude'…" Zack mimicked Simms' voice, until both shuddered as Simms' moves overloaded their brains.

Silence became their fourth companion for a few moments, until Zack broke it.

"You know I'm not even sure where my feelings for London came from." A shoulder shrug completed his bewilderment.

"We've known London since we were twelve, so that might have something to do with it. We know her as an actual person, not just by her beauty, or money or her father," Cody said trying to help his twin.

Zack just stared at Cody, as her profile flew out of his mouth, but Cody only shrugged. "I mean, yeah she has her quirks, we all do…"

Zack could not miss the perfect opening given to him. "Like your nerdy computer brain for instance…"

Cody bit his tongue, and continued on from before. "We talk to her often, not just see her on TV, or the Internet, or read the tabloids about her (even though she shows us those every chance she gets)…."

Zack accepted Cody's idea. "I can see that, but it's not just that. At least not to me." Zack's response drew a surprised look from Cody, but he continued. "I think it's that she's always there. Talking to us, sometimes causing trouble with us, she's become a part of our lives. I think, I realize now that I don't want her to leave. And she would be gone forever if something happened to her and we could not save her, you know? I don't know if I truly love her, or if it's just the emptiness her absence would make in our lives, that allows me to feel this way…."

Cody's mouth dropped as Zack finished. He never heard his twin speak about anyone like this. Except for maybe him, and that was only when they were alone. Such drive. Such passion. Even when it was Maddie, he almost always shrugged it off to just being a crush. But now he wondered if he was wrong about Zack and Maddie. Or even now possibly with London… maybe Zack "the player" did grow up. Or at least got more emotionally evolved…

Cody did not even try to stop himself from smiling at the split-level thoughts, but he was able to get his mind under control.

"You know, Zack, London comes with her own unique set of baggage?"

Zack's smile brightened the tunnel. "That's true Codes, but at least she has enough money to have someone else help with it." Cody shook his head.

Some things never change….

Realization hit Cody, and he felt guilty for pointing it out.

"I hate to be a killjoybut you do realize for you to have any deep relationship, you will have to get past Moseby first."

Zack shrugged it off. "I think protecting her, and saving her life might put me in his good graces…."

"You can only hope…"

Zack groaned. "Thanks for dousing my fire, bro…"

Cody smirked as another memory reared its not so ugly head. "Remember when we saw the Starlight Follies…" Zack's best flirting smile emerged at the mere mention of the showgirls and the trouble the twins got into. Cody went on

"Maybe your feelings toward London started then? " Cody raised his eyebrows to point out the obvious.

Zack only shrugged. "No clue… of course there was all those times we saw London by the pool in Boston during the summer…"

Cody stayed quiet as he absorbed Zack's response. His focus, the casting shadows from the lights, and their walking prevented him from spotting the eclipsing seditious smirk on his twin's face. The spell was broken as Zack put his arm around his little brother's shoulders, an act rarely done.

"Hey Codester, I admit seeing all the women at the show would make any man's night. "

Zack stopped dead to make sure he had the younger twin's attention. He did. Zack slyly waited for Cody's face to change, and he could see a cheerful expression brewing, as his eyes glazed over.

"You seemed to be really into that plan as well. Almost like a fanatic… especially after Bailey was involved." His girlfriend's name killed the smile, and the boyfriend turned toward, the often joint troublemaker-in-action. Then his head swiveled toward their front, and paled as he saw Simms's head turned slightly in their direction. His left ear clearly shown… Cody's brain refused to operate at its normal efficiency, but Zack's motor mouth kept on going…

"Of course the part you probably remember the most is where she had to wear the outfit."

"I don't want to talk about it Zack…" Zack sidestepped the weak counter, and dug in, with a lion's ferocity, to the young human antelope.

"You remember it, don't you Cody? You kept saying over, and over again how it was a really great plan." Cody would love to throttle his brother right then and there. But he was not sure if it was his non-violent nature, or his body that stopped him. His physical form being tormented by euphoric images, soaked in testosterone. Primal suggestion shredding whatever civilized culture taught him. Heat rose up from his insides.

Zack watched as Cody's face turned a shade that would beat even a freshly boiled lobster. He showed no mercy as he leaned closer, lowering his voice.

"You remember the orange feathers they wore, and the small pink mask over their eyes? Imagine Bailey wearing them. Then add in those skimpy orange gold outfits. Glitter just falling off them…" Cody's heart pounded in his chest as sweat started to run down his face. "Beads, and threads just bouncing everywhere. To top it off, add a fluffy red boa, to whip around and pull you in."

Zack backed off, and waited for his brother to come down from the high. Only then did he notice Simms' raised eyebrow, as he shook his head. Simms paused, then turned around and left the two teenagers to their own devices. Zack watched as Cody's color slowly turned to normal. Then an epiphany struck him. He wondered how far in to stick the knife, and decided to go all the way to the hilt.

His hand covering his mouth, as he leaned in again towards his brother, "You know between us, Codes I wonder if you ever had a dream with your little Haybale in that costume?" The question spiked Cody's color again. "I mean I would have in your situation. The girl I had a crush on, looking like_that_." Zack's emphasis screamed his opinion as he smirked at Cody's discomfort. "Did it drive you into falling for her more, or was the showgirl thing just icing on the cake?"

The teens froze in place as Cody digested the question. But Simms' voice boomed down the tunnel.

"Hurry up you two. We need to find London fast. For all our sakes." Zack looked up, and started to walk faster. Until his brother's outstretched arm crossed his path. He looked up to see a cold hard look on his other half's face. Not one hint of embarrassment. He swallowed.

"To answer both of your questions, Zack…its none of your business." Cody turned and walked away. Zack stared at Cody's head as he bit his lip, ideas, and doubts swirling. But he simply followed his twin and Simms down the tunnel.

….

The quiet would have unnerved anyone but London and Wilfred Tipton. It became too comfortable, especially when they were related. Even though law, and biology were the only things that related them.

The tear streaks had long ago disappeared from London's face, but depression still filled every pore, line, and lash to the brim. She looked at the man sitting nearby, and a thought wandered through her brain. She wondered if he even knew how to treat her like a normal child… like a normal single father-daughter relationship with its ups and downs, the wars, the mixed messages, and the constant worrying for her. A tremor awoke inside her…

"Did you even know I was kidnapped? That the kidnappers were asking about you?" Wilfred looked shaken by the questions, but his self-control answered for him.

"Yes, I knew you were kidnapped. I started trying to find you when Moseby told me the news." The businessman stared at the young woman in his midst. "I do care about you London, even if it may not seem like it sometimes."

"Sometimes a phone call is not enough." Wilfred did not answer right away, his expression full of loss. London continued. "Sometimes I felt like I was an accessory to you, something not very important. Like an old outfit you pull out of the closet, to look at when you want to remember something." Red colored Tipton's cheeks as the words hit him.

"Hey, how can you say that? I mean you have a private jet, a submarine, and even a blimp! You have a clothes closet that takes a whole floor of the Boston hotel. You have everything a girl could want…"

London's eyebrow ran almost into her hairline. "Except my father." Wilfred's head snapped back as he started to respond, but the steel in London's voice stopped his anger. "Who is always going to or from meetings every time I call you…"

"London, I run a multibillion dollar corporation with assets all over the world…." Wilfred's answer teemed with frustrationbut London's was flat.

"I understand that. I really do, even if it may not seem like it sometimes. I mean with the cosmetics line, and the time I ran the clothing store, I understand what it means to be responsible for something…" Wilfred seemed pleased as London toted her accomplishments. "I just wish you did not spend all of your time on the company."

The CEO's mood changed instantly, explaining himself, empire builder to heir. "But I do what I do for the company for you, London… I want to give you something for your future." A mime could not have mimicked London better until her brain kick-started itself.

"I'm sorry father, but I just don't really care about the company. At least not as much as you do." London followed through. "I mean I love the money I am allowed to spend to go shopping. It makes me happy. But I do not want to run the whole thing. Actually I am not sure I ever want to run the company."

Wilfred looked at his attire and simply shrugged and waited for the last three-inch stiletto heel to drop.

"Okay, what do you want? Your own design company, your own clothing line… Fashionably London?"

London hesitated for a few seconds, her fingers drumming on her torn Arturo Vitali pants. But then she shook herself, and looks Wilfred straight n the eye.

"Just you." Wilfred's chin drops as he collapses to near-incoherence.

"Me?"

London smiled as she realized the cutthroat businessman was stumped by a simple request.

"Yep, and I always get what I want. I want to spend time with you. I mean these quickie hello's and goodbye's over the phone are ridiculous."

The pair squared off until Tipton decided to end it. "Do you realize how busy I am? I can't just say I am taking a vacation this second."

London's eyes narrowed as the excuses flowed and she decided to put a stop to it. "Are you telling me there's no name, you can hand the company off for a week to spend time with your own daughter? No one at all?"

"Not in an instant. I would have to set it up. But I promise to see if it can be done as efficiently as possible."

"Okay, deal." An expression of symmetry appeared on both faces. Perhaps they were similar after all.

Now if I am able to set it up, what do you intend to do with this free time… father-daughter time?"

London's eyes wondered at her father's obliviousness to the whole thing. "I don't know… Perhaps friends, school, rumors, fashion… I mean Moseby and my friends deal with me all the time, but I see its only fair that you have your fair share. Especially with our rough edges." London could already see the trepidation in the man's stature. He was out of his element in more ways than one.

"I also forgot there's one little topic that's bound to come up. And its one we've argued over before, since I was attracted to the son of St. Marks' Hotel chain…." London swore horror ran across the man's face, as he realized where she was going with this.

"Boyfriends…" London held in a laugh, and looked outside. It was still raining.

"With the horrible weather, I am not getting wet so we have all the time in the world to get started… How about friends?"

…

"Well here we are…" Relief spilled from Simms' words, as the would-be rescuers escaped from the secret tunnel.

Thank goodness, I thought we never get out of there…" Cody looked at his twin, incredulously but before he could say anything, he turned his head.

"London!"

Zack and Simms followed Cody to the young heiress.

"Hey Zack! Hey Cody! You would not believe the time I've had. Some guys in awful clothing kidnapped me, and asked me a million questions. I escapedand my clothes are ruined…" The twins smiled at London's rapid fire chattingbut Zack stepped forward.

"London, are you okay? You're not hurt or anything?"

The tycoon's daughter looked at Zack. "My clothes are ruined. I need to get to the boat to change. I think I've lost my shoes from all the running. I can't remember the last time I sweated this much. I need to spend a week at the spa..." Zack grabbed her arms, and the rambling stopped.

Zack's eyes stared into her. Focused, determined, worried. "You don't have any broken bones or anything like that, do you?" Sincerity reached out to herand she returned it.

"No, I'm just really sore and tired, even after I took that nap. You know, Zack… I remember hearing your voice." Zack bit his lip and searched for a way to explainbut London's impatience saved him as she noticed someone else. Zack held onto London's arm as she turned.

"Hey, Cody who's that?" Her friend pointed at Simms and London nodded.

"Oh, its Simms, you met him before when you gave him the check for 10 million after he threw you, then us in jail for what your father did to the island." Recognition finally dawned on London. "You're the one that wore all those hats. I see your style has improved a little."

"Thank you Miss Tipton. I am glad to see that you are alright."

London cut him off. "Wait you were one of the kidnappers!"

Simms reacted calmly. "Yes I was hired by your father to make sure you were safe. But I'm sorry I wasn't able to reveal myself to you." London accepted the account without further questions. But someone else interrupted.

"Well we finally meet in person, Mr. Simms. I hired you to protect Londonand you failed to do that!" Zack darted in front of London, and in-between her and this unknown person.

"Stop it, daddy, he did the best he could. Besides I was able to escape." The man said nothing, and watched as a cascade of emotions broke in front of him. Zack repelled from London, subtlety trying to put distance between the two of them. Cody stands frozen until his face turned to puzzlement, and concentration. Simms starts to sweat. Cody sidesteps over to his brother's side and whispers in his ear.

"I did not see this coming… We might be in trouble. Or should I say, you might…" Under other circumstances, Zack would normally have laughed. Not now, he simply nodded.

"You'd think… wonder what he did to potential boyfriends he disapproved of? Remember what London did to people who annoyed her, or made her angry?" Zack winced as he remembered something. " I think she sent Moseby to South America once…"

His brother's silence ended the conversation. They watched as London stared down her father until he backed down.

Cody waited a few seconds then looked toward London. "London, how do you know this man is your father?" Cody did not see Tipton's head shoot up at the simple question, as London looked confused.

"What do you mean, not my father?" Cody started to answer, when London jumped ahead of him.

"Trust me Cody. It's my daddy all right. I have seen him without his bodyguards before." London saw the tension decrease in Cody, only to watch it increase in Zack.

But Cody now turned toward Wilfred Tipton. "Excuse me, Mr. Tipton, what happened to your bodyguards. I mean we've never seen you without them… ever." The head of Tipton Industries looked this young man over, and then did the same for his carbon copy. "Carey Martin, the singer at the Boston Tipton's twins?"

The question threw Cody for a loopbut he recovered quickly. "Yes sir, how do you know us?"

Tipton's eyes narrowed. "Moseby talks about you all the time. About all the trouble you've caused him. Both of you." Cody fidgeted under the businessman's glare, and started looking around for places to hide. While Zack's valiant effort to look nonchalant was starting to crack.

"And me, too with the phone calls once a week at least…" London proudly added.

Tipton just shrugged his shoulders. "But that's for another time…"

"My boyfriends were eliminated…"

Zack looked as if he might faint, but Cody's courage returned while he tried to keep his brain in check. "Eliminated?"

"Yes, Eliminated…" Cody stopped as he heard irritation starting to creep into Tipton's voice. Then Tipton asked Cody a question. "Since we are asking each other questions, I have to wonder what are you doing here, now, unless you snuck off the boat."

Zack spoke up. "Actually, sir, we were hired by Mr. Ming, one of your associates…" Cody cut his twin off. Tipton's stare juggled between the two twins for a few seconds, as Zack's head turned toward his twin, Cody spoke.

"Mr. Ming Hyun figured it would be wise to use all available resources to help find London, so that she returned safely." Wilfred looked at Cody as he finished, only to snort in their direction.

"He figured two people with your set of skills could help?"

Cody's strained smile answered him. "Well, yes… plus since we were London's friends…" Cody paused as Wilfred nodded his head.

"Why, it kills two birds with one stone." Everyone looked at him strangely. "It uses whatever troublemaking talent you have for our side while trying to solve the crisis… damage control."

Zack decided to add his two cents to the conversation. "Mr. Tipton, Mr. Hyun was worried about the possibility of someone going after you as well, taking advantage of the situation…" Tipton's pause could have filled a chasm, and his frown, the whole universe. "A wise deduction…"

The crowd waited for Tipton. But not London.

"What do we do now?"

Tipton smiled at his daughter.

"What we need to do is to get out of here, and figure out who did this, and why?" The twins caught his attention.

"Is it just the three of you?"

Zack answered quickly. "No there's another group who split with us to find out more information at a woman's house, we think was killed for trying to tell on the kidnappers. They have a walk-talkie with them. It consists of Moseby, Mrs. Tut…" Tipton stopped him.

"That's fine. Maybe we can meet up, figure out what's going on, and find a way off this island."

"We used London's shoe sub to get here. That can take us home," Cody piped in.

"I may know of another way as well." Tipton moved on after speaking, staring at the now clear view of the ocean.

"In the meantime, after you contact the others, I need you all to tell me, including London, what's been going on since you landed on the island. London, I need you to explain what happened when you were with the kidnappers."

"They asked about you and the company a lot."

Well that's a start…" Wilfred looked at the twins. "Contact your friends…"

Zack grabbed the walkie-talkie.

**Okay this has been a long time in coming. I was assigned several months ago. But due to time constraints and my stories, this got pushed back. To be honest, I also had no clue where to with the story at first. But after a conversation with Wyntirsno, I was ready to go. So after about two to three weeks, here it is. Enjoy. As always, please review.**


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